Move Forward
by blackstarlove19
Summary: She came back suddenly as much as her disappearance was sudden! With no memories of those four years, Lia tries to move past them, even if it meant avoiding them altogether, but avoiding things never solves it and with the Fairy Tail luck, trouble keeps on coming!-DISCLAIMER- I do not own Fairy Tail at all! All rights and regulations do go to Hiro Mashima! Only my OCS belong to me!
1. The Return

It was unusually quiet as the Fairy Tail members were rebuilding their destroyed hall, mainly due to the fact that the main source of the usual commotion had gone on a vacation.

"Master, there's a message for you" Called Mirajane as she read the big font letters on the envelope "It says it's urgent!"

The master was currently using his titan magic to help with the construction work, so he shrunk and took the letter from Mira.

"From Alder town?!" He wondered confused as he opened the letter and read it, it wasn't that long only a page and attached to it was a picture but the shocked expression on his face, made Mira a little worried.

"Master, did something happen?" She asked him worriedly.

"It did" He replied handing her the letter as he scanned over the guild hall. "Cana, Bisca and Alzack!"

"Master?" Cana wondered as she stopped drinking and Bisca and Alzack walked to stand beside her.

"There's an important mission I need you to handle" He told them with a solemn expression that made them confused.

"This is…" Mira was shocked as she read the letter too.

 **Three days later…**

"So this Alder town" Alzack commented as the three of them stood in front of the small town.

Alder town was on a lone island north of Fiore, they had to take the train for 12 hours and walk for a two days and then ride a boat to the island. The town itself was a fishing village and had small houses all over and despite being so secluded it was full of people.

"Cana?" Bisca called to the brunette who was in a daze with a solemn look on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Ah!" she answered back.

"Fairy Tail, I presume?" asked a man as he approached them, he was a tall broad man with brown hair and a small beard and looked to be in his mid-forties "The man who bought you on his boat told me he noticed your guild marks"

"That would be us" Bisca replied to him.

"My name is Theo Dart" He told them "My wife and I were the ones to send the message"

"My name is Alzack, this is Bisca and Cana" Alzack introduced them

"Can you take us to her?" Cana told him with a solemn expression as he grimed.

"Of course" He replied as he gestured for them to follow him and they started to walk through town.

"What exactly happened?" Alzack asked him.

"We're not sure what happened to her, like we said in the letter we just fished her out of the waters a week ago" He told them "She's still out of it, she hadn't woken up even once when we noticed her guild mark on her hand, we knew it was Fairy Tails' right away"

"How injured was she?" Cana asked

"To be honest, she looked like she dragged herself out of hell" He answered after a pause as they stopped at his house "Come in" He invited them as he opened the door.

"Eda, I'm back!" He called once inside, a woman appeared coming from a room inside "The Fairy Tail mages are here"

"You must be worried about your friend" She exclaimed as she saw "She's right in here" as she led them into the room she was just in. Bisca and Alzack followed right away while Cana swallowed before following too.

The room was simple, but Cana's eyes were on the unconscious girl on the bed. As she held her breath, she had been expecting it, but still she couldn't believe it.

"Lia?" She exclaimed.

 **A few days later…**

Makarov was sitting in the new guild hall at the bar drinking as he remembered his conversation with Porlyusica two days ago after they finally came back with Lia.

 _Flashback_

" _So what is it?" concern filled Makarov as he asked Porlyusica after she had examined the girl who was now lying in Porlyusica's house._

" _She's alive and I can confirm it's her" She told him solemnly "The seal is the genuine thing so it's definitely her. As for her condition there could be only one thing that can explain it, she used a spell that was too much for her."_

 _Makarov turned grim._

" _You don't need to look like that" Porlyusica reprimanded him "I have dealt with this before, I can help her, but she will still need a few days to rest"_

 _He heaved a_ sigh _of relief._

" _Physically she's recovering fine" Porlyusica told him solemn as she stared at the orange haired girl covered in bandages "But injuries like this, she was going through hell for who knows how long"_

 _End of flashback_

On the other hand, he had another matter to handle now, after one the previous phantom element four, Juvia, had joined the guild she had recommended to let Gajeel join. So he was going to talk to the young man himself.

Meanwhile in Porlyusica's house the girl opened her eyes for the first time in a while. She blinked to adjust her eyes to the light as she groggily pushed herself up and winced while doing so.

"You should lie down" Porlyusica told her pushing the girl down, who resisted her and forced herself to sit down.

"Porlyusica?" The girl asked confused as she stared at her, somehow she felt like the woman looked older than she remembered. And what exactly had happened? The last thing she remembered was her making her way home after finishing a mission.

"Lia, do you remember anything that happened?" The elder woman asked her staring at the Lia's golden yellow eyes.

"I…" Lia tried saying but started coughing, she drank the water that was handed to her and thanked her. "I was heading home" Her voice was gruff like she hadn't used it for a while which was making her even more confused "…after I finished the job"

Porlyusica was grim as she heard her answer.

"How long?" Lia asked feeling like she was missing some time "How long has it been since then?" she expected days maybe a few weeks.

"Four years" The pink haired woman answered quietly as Lia was shocked she grabbed the blanket tightly.

"Four years?" Her voice shook slightly as she tried to register the information.

What the hell had happened?

"You should rest a bit more" Porlyusica told her sighing as she managed to help the girl lie down although Lia followed a little absent-minded.'

The next day, Makarov made his way to the east forest.

Yesterday the guild hall was in a disarray as almost everyone objected to Gajeel joining the guild, he managed to shut them up though he was sure he was going to hear more complains once a certain dragon slayer came back.

Porlyusica had informed him that Lia had woken up yesterday, but he was still surprised to see her up.

"Lia" He called to her as he walked to the bed, she was sitting up as she looked at him and gave him a grin.

"Gramps" She called "I guess it's been a while huh?"

"How are you feeling?" He asked her concerned

"Just fine" She informed him although he could see the wince when she moved her hands "I think I am even ready to leave?" She suggested hopefully

"You can leave if you want" The pink haired woman grumbled "As long as you don't overdo it and rest for a few days more, besides I don't need humans staying here for long"

Lia grinned at the elder woman, having known her since she was a child she was used to her behavior.

She stood up, although a little slowly from the bed ready to get going. She was wearing a button up short sleeved shirt along with a knee length skirt, there were even some flats left for her by the bed.

It was probably what cloth they could come up with.

"Thanks for taking care of me like always" Lia thanked Porlyusica "Let's go gramps"

Makarov chuckled at her energy as he thanked Porlyusica too before following Lia.

While walking through the forest slowly beside him, Lia looked away.

"I am sorry Gramps" She apologized "I probably made everyone worry, just disappearing like that and I can't even explain what happened"

"It doesn't matter Lia" He told her, Porlyusica had informed him that Lia couldn't remember those four years "What matters is your back now, Welcome home!"

She turned towards him with the few tears spilling as she gave him a smile "I'm home"

It didn't take long for them to reach the guild hall; she was surprised when she saw the new built guild hall.

"What happened to the old building?" She asked shocked.

"Some things happened, so we decided to upgrade" He told her with a grin as she stared with awe at the new large building and they were still at the gates.

"Everyone is going to be surprised to see you again" Makarov told her "The only ones who know are Mira, Cana, Bisca and Alzack"

She didn't need to ask about who the latter two, since they were probably someone who joined while she was away and also she was staring at the place around her now that they were past the gates.

"An Outdoors café?" She wondered "Did we get so many members that this giant building can't fit them?"

"It's a business expansion, there's even a gift shop over there" He told her pointing towards the kiosk on the side.

"You really went overboard with it" Lia deadpanned with a sweat drop, as he just laughed.

They headed to the main guild hall. When inside Lia awed again, it was beautiful inside.

"Welcome home, Lia" Mira said, who had walked up to them and was the one to draw attention to Lia, as she hugged Lia suddenly.

"Mira?" Lia was surprised and it took her a little bit to recognize the white haired mage before hugging her back. When they broke their hug, everyone, who knew Lia, in the hall were still stunned. "You changed a lot"

"It's good to see you up on your feat" Cana told her as she walked up to them too putting her arm around Lia's shoulder. "We had to carry you all the way and you didn't even twitch."

"Thanks for that" Lia thanked her. But when she turned to the rest of the hall she didn't get far before she was buried under everyone, most of them were the guys, who had jumped at her. Somehow Cana and Mira had jumped out of the way and were watching the comical scene with a smile. There were others who were confused to how everyone was acting.

"Can't breathe" Lia said as she tried to get out of the hug, but they couldn't hear her apparently. Finding there was a possible chance she would really die in the hug, Lia used her magic and appeared beside master, safe out of the crushing hug.

"I miss all of you too" She said breathing relief "But I don't want to end up at Porlyusica again!"

"Lia it's really you, isn't it?" Levy wondered as she stood in front of her and hugged.

"Good to see you again, Levy" Lia replied hugging her back. "Welcome Home, Lia!"

Everyone repeated it, just like Levy and Mira before her, making Lia tear a bit with a smile.

"I'm home!" She replied, even with no memory, she could feel the tug in her heart, the one where she knew how much she longed for this for the last four years.

"So now let's party to celebrate her return" Cana announced as the guild roared in agreement.

Lia talked with a lot of the people around, she met Bisca and Alzack and thanked them for helping bring her back. She met some of the others, like Max, Nab and Juvia. She was surprised to find a pool behind the guild hall along with a game room in the bottom floor. She was sure more than ever that this was too much.

Eventually she was sitting at a table with Macao, Wakaba and Cana. Although Cana was on the table cradling a beer barrel and drinking from it, making Lia, who hadn't tried drinking, sweat drop.

"Some people are missing though…" Lia started turning to talk to the older men. "Natsu, Gray, Lisanna, Erza, Happy, Eiran, Laxus and the thunder tribe" She counted trying to remember if she forgot anyone.

"Well most of them are off on missions…" Macao told her sadly while Wakaba scratched the back of his head.

"Lisanna died two years ago" Cana told Lia as she stopped drinking and turned to look at Mira who was behind the bar. "It was a mission with both Elfman and Mira"

"I see…" Lia said understanding the reason for the change in Mira.

"Well, Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy are away on a vacation in Akane resort with Lucy" Wakaba told her "Lucky them!"

"Hearing those names together somehow I think this is the last we'll see of Akane resort" Lia muttered making them laugh "So Lucy is a new member too?"

"Yeah a celestial spirit mage joined few months ago, she already teamed up with the other three and happy" Macao confirmed but when all of the noise stopped all of a sudden, they turned to see the reason.

Almost everyone was glaring at the person who just entered the hall, including Cana, Macao and Wakaba, while Lia was just confused. Gajeel didn't mind them and just found an empty table to sit at.

After a few minutes, the guild returned to the usual bustling with some still sending glares towards him. Lia didn't miss the fact that Levy was shaking a bit.

"He is…" Lia trailed turning to the ones setting with her.

"The reason our old guildhall was destroyed" Cana told her bitterly.

"He destroyed our guild hall and attacked team shadow gear" Macao explained "So we ended up going to war with Phantom lord, we did win in the end and Phantom ended up being disbanded by the council"

"I don't know what master was thinking letting him join" Cana said bitterly

"He did let Juvia join too" Wakaba commented while Lia just stared thoughtfully at Gajeel.

"Still, he was the one that hurt the guild the most" Cana replied.

"Master is probably giving him a chance" Lia told them thoughtfully "a chance to walk a different path, beside you have to remember that now that phantom disbanded he doesn't have anywhere to go" Lia after all knew that master was always willing to help someone by giving them a chance to walk a better path than the one they were on "Any way, what about Eiran, Laxus and the thunder tribe?"

"Eiran has been away on a mission for a few months now" Cana told her "The rest don't really show up around the guild hall that much" Lia blinked at the news.

"Laxus changed a lot Lia" Macao told her "He's not the kid you grew up with, be careful around him" Lia looked down thoughtfully.

She knew that she would have to talk to Laxus to see what the deal was.

The day passed and night was there before they knew it as the guild hall started to empty by the end, Lia was sitting at the bar with Mira and Makarov.

"The guild is as a lively as ever" Lai commented with a smile, as she stood up to head home when it struck her. "Gramps?" She asked quietly, to the elder man sitting on the bar. "Is by any chance the spare key to my house still with you?"

The elder blinked before sweat dropping. "I think it might have been destroyed, with the old guild hall" Lia stood up and walked silently, but on her face was a look of horror that she hid.

"You're going to be okay, Lia?" Mira asked her "You can stay at the guild here in the inside infirmary"

"It's going to be fine" Lia told her stuttering "I think I might just skip coming to the guild tomorrow"

Without the key she would have to break the door, but what scared her was having to deal with the enchantments on the door that was placed by her mother long ago. So she knew she would need her rest after dealing with them.


	2. Miss Fairy Tail

Lia was soaked and the sleeves of her shirt charred and some of the bandages were untied now having to deal with devil enchantments till she managed to stop them, although she had to remember to replace them with her own now. She was in the entrance staring at the dust filled two-floored house. And she had to deal with the library in the basement too.

She was glad her house was off in one of the emptier areas of magnolia.

The house was normal sized, From the outside this house looks grandiose, it has been built with tan stones and has tan stone decorations. Small, squared windows allow enough light to enter the home and have been added to the house in a mostly symmetric way.

The roof is high and triangular and is covered with wood shingles. There are no chimneys. Several large windows let in plenty of light to the rooms below the roof.

the first floor had a living room on one side, a guest bathroom and kitchen to the other side, the stairs in the middle with the door leading to the basement on the side of the stairs.

The second floor had two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

"Porlyusica would kill me if she knew I was already using magic" Lia muttered to herself as she crouched as her fingers touched the floor and she gathered magic.

Dust particles started to gather around her for a few minutes, before she stood with the dust gathered in a pile in front of her and she dusted her hands. Before making the pile of dust turn into a ball. Before the ball disappeared.

Although that dealt with one problem she still would have to deal with the moth eaten curtains, weed the small garden, pay the bills…etc. but all that could wait to tomorrow.

She headed upstairs making her way to her room, when she opened her wardrobe she wasn't surprised to find just remaining of the fabric that was in there. She grabbed what she could and but around her like a cloak.

Gathering her magic again, a faint golden aura surrounded her as her cloth along with the extra fabric changed till she was wearing a short sleeved red pajama along with red pajama pants before she finally crashed into the bed, and drifted into sleep.

Lia didn't wake up till the afternoon of the next day, standing up and opened the window to let some light in, she did freeze in front the stand mirror as she looked at herself with a frown.

To her she was just 17 she had to keep reminding herself it has been four years. She was taller, her orange hair which used to be kept at shoulder height was now all the way to her waist, she was thinner like she barely ate, her chest was a little bigger too. Her feature that stayed the same was probably her golden yellow eyes and the red Fairy Tail mark on her right hand.

"Move forward, don't let the past hold you back and don't let your circumstances define you" She reminded herself with her mother's words with a small smile to herself.

Since the house had no water since no bills were paid for the four years, she just changed her outfit with magic.

First leaving to the bank where she was relieved to find her bank account safe and sound, with enough money in it and was thankful for the money she had saved. She paid the bills and then headed to the market.

She bought food, some new fabrics which she had sent to her house, some cleaning supplies to deal with what she knew her magic couldn't do, garden seeds and tools to fix the small garden, some medical supplies to handle herself, she was sure this counted as pushing herself but she didn't like just giving into her injuries.

When she made it home she started with her house and wasn't done except by nightfall but she was proud of her work as the house now didn't look like it was haunted and looked great if she could say so herself, she also managed to change the lock on her door so she now had a new key, and she placed some enchantments, to replace the previous ones.

She crashed in that night tired again after making sure to change her bandages. The next day after a hot shower and a small breakfast, she made her way to the guild, she was wearing a red tank top, a blue plaid shirt left un buttoned with long sleeves rolled to her elbow, blue jeans shorts that reached mid-thigh, with mid-calf grey boots.

Her hair was cut to mid-back and her bangs were brushed to the left while she had her hair behind her ear on the right side of her face.

"Morning" She greeted Mira and Juvia as she settled at the bar. Mira was behind the bar while Juvia sat beside Lia.

"Good morning" Juvia replied

"Good morning" She replied "You're managed to settle back in?"

"Yup" She replied with a grin before sweat dropping at the Cana who was drinking this early in the day.

"That's normal" Mira told her with a giggle as Lia shook her head. "You know you came back at the best time; the harvest festival isn't too far away"

"That's right" Lia reminded herself "I am definitely taking part this year in as many activities as I can this year especially fantasia"

"Fantasia?!" Juvia wondered confused

"You just came here, but it's the best thing ever" Lia told her as she remembered the years before "It's a parade held by Fairytail at the end of the festival every year, it basically everyone showing their magic in a beautiful demonstration"

"Speaking about magic, is your magic is fine?" Mira asked her "You used that teleportation spell to get out of that hug but…"

"It's good" Lia answered "I even feel a little more in control, probably body memory from those four years. I use particle magic, I heard you were a water mage so there's probably tons of things you could do for the parade"

"I am gonna be in it?" She asked surprised

"Of course you're a member of Fairytail after all" Makarov joined the conversation as he sat on the bar.

"That magic is…" Lia turned to look at the door with a smile "They're back, Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy"

"Then I have the best welcome back gift" Mira said with a giggle as she headed towards the stage

"You're using your sensing ability?" Makarov asked her with a disapproving look as she just scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"I just want to get back into it" She said with a laugh as the guild doors opened and Lucy and Happy stood at the railings.

"How beautiful!" The two shouted as they stared at the guild.

Juvia and Makarov made their way towards the group who was being shown the new guild by Levy while Lia hanged back wanting to see how long it would take for them to notice her.

Lia was surprised when the smile Juvia was giving them turned to a glare directed towards Lucy. When she heard the words Love rival she sweat dropped.

Of course like almost everyone in the guild things didn't go well when they found out that Gajeel had joined.

Lia sighed as she walked towards the group, mainly Natsu, who was about to start a fight.

"It is the role of we elder to guide youth from the wrong path to the right one" Master told them as Lia approached the group "Deep down even he is good"

"You guys should calm down and listen to gramps" Lia told them as team Natsu froze and looked at her "Give him a second chance"

"Lia?!" Erza called shocked, Natsu, Happy and Gray were shocked as well while Lucy was confused.

"The one and only!" She told them with a wink, Natsu sniffed the air once he confirmed it he and Happy jumped at her screaming her name as they hugged her.

"Good to see you too Natsu" Lia laughed hugging him back, when she broke with him she ended up being hugged by Erza and afterwards Gray, when she didn't miss the look from Juvia.

She was surprised to see Erza was a little taller than her.

"But what happened?" Erza asked her to which Lia shrugged

"Can't remember" She replied before turning to the blonde "You must be Lucy, I heard a lot about you, I'm Lia Sephiran"

"Nice to meet you" Lucy said nervously as she was thinking about what could Lia have heard.

They were cut off when the lights went off and the stage lights were lit.

"We're back, Mira!" Natsu shouted to Mira who was on stage.

"Welcome back" She replied back "I will now sing a song commemorating the new guild and to welcome back Lia and Natsu's team."

Everyone was cheering Mira as we sat at one of the tables and listened. Lia closed her eyes and enjoyed the music.

Once Mira was done with her song, everything went downhill as Gajeel decided to sing which somehow led to a huge fight in the guild. Lia stared from the side as much as she wanted to join thought against it with her still healing injures. So she just opted to laughing, while Master cried and Lucy and Happy hid.

After things calmed down though Lia noticed Jet and Droy talking to Gajeel before leaving the guild hall with the three of them and Levy.

Lia decided to follow them, with sigh. She wasn't there when it happened and they have every right to be angry but she didn't want things to get out of hand.

So when they ended up at the park she opted to watch from a distance and only interfere if it gets out of hand.

Eventually Jet and Droy started attacking Gajeel who didn't defend himself or fight back, Lia understood what that meant but apparently they didn't even notice.

When she sensed a familiar magic though she frowned as Laxus joined the small gathering.

When Lightning gathered about to hit Gajeel, Lia appeared in front of him and raised her hand upwards.

"Destroy!" she shouted as the magic particles dispersed, before she glared towards Laxus, she knew she wouldn't be able to stop another attack like that.

"Using that much power on a guild mate Laxus?" She asked him angrily, as he just stared back not showing any kind of emotion.

"I heard you were back" He said "Now get out of the way"

"Not happening" She told him crossing her hands, but Gajeel stood up and put his hand too her shoulder to have her move out of the way. "Gajeel"

As soon as she was out of the way Laxus hit the ground and Lightning hit Gajeel sending him back.

"That's enough Laxus!" Lia shouted

"Stop Laxus! That's going too far!" Jet tried to reason with him.

"I knew Laxus was crazy strong, but…" Droy noted "it's that one-sided?"

"It's because Gajeel isn't fighting back at all" Lia shouted at them "He hasn't been from the start"

"Because he wanted us to recognize him as an ally…" Levy cried from the back. "He just took it without defending himself"

Laxus disappeared in lightning and appeared at Gajeel and started kicking him. Lia ran forward, her hand aiming at Laxus. "Magic missile, Fire!"

Three balls of fire formed and hit Laxus who stopped what he was doing and turned towards her.

"What was that about not hurting your guild mates?" He asked her

"Not when they're causing harm, now stop it!" She bellowed at him with a glare, understanding what Macao had told her.

"Stop it Laxus, That's enough!" Jet called from behind

"The weaklings should stay outta this!" Laxus called as he directed lightning towards them

"No!" Lia shouted as it went past her, she knew she wouldn't make it, all of them were surprised when Gajeel stood in front of Levy taking the hit for her using his iron as a rod.

"You satisfied?" Gajeel asked shaking slightly "I have work to do" He started walking away.

I frowned before angrily turning towards Laxus with a glare he just turned away leaving too. She sighed turning to check on Levy.

"Are you okay Levy?" She asked the petit girl who nodded. "You two…" She turned to Jet and Droy "Can you drop it now? And give him a chance?"

They just looked at the ground, so Lia sighed.

"He's trying to change; you know very well he could have beaten the two of you easily" Lia told them "I am not asking you to be best friends, but holding on to what happened wouldn't do anybody any good now"

She started running after the iron dragon slayer before he got of her magic sensing range. He was using his hand to hold himself against a building.

He was surprised when someone was under suddenly helping support him, looking at the Orange headed girl with shock.

"Let's get you to the guild" She told him "You said you had a job to do, wouldn't want to be late now, would you?" She asked him as he tusked

"I can walk on my own" He told her

"I know you could, but right now you don't have to" She replied surprising him as She started helping and he tusked again. "That what it means to have friends"

"Do what you want" He told her causing her to smile as he reminded her of a certain boy.

He did force her to let go when they were close to the guild and he walked in on his own.

Lia sat at in the guild lost in thought, out of everyone she couldn't believe how much Laxus had changed. That wasn't the reunion she had in mind, they grew up together after all but she would have never thought he would change this much.

The next day Lia was surprised to find Erza at her door.

"You want help with the clothing for Miss Fairy Tail?" Lia repeated what the red head had told her.

"You can still use your magic to make cloth right?" Erza asked as Lia nodded "Please help me!"

"Of course" Lia told her If she can't be in it because of her bandages, which was healing pretty good most of them were already gone, at least one of her creation would be in it.

Later, Lia sat at the bar in the guild beside Gajeel waiting for the competition to start. She was wearing a knee length black pencil skirt with a white button up long sleeved shirt and black ankle length flat boots.

The competition started, first off was Cana who used her cards to change into a swimsuit, afterwards was Juvia who changed into a swimsuit too calling for Gray at the end.

"At least Erza will be different" Lia told herself "Her biggest contestant is probably Mira"

"How do you know?" Gajeel asked her as he ate iron

"I designed her costume" Lia said proudly

When Mira's turn came and she used her magic to change her face to Happy, Lia secretly cheered.

"Erza is going to win this!" Lia cheered to herself.

But when Mira changed her face to Gajeel, Lia was holding her stomach laughing as Gajeel just lost it.

"Shut it" He shouted at the still laughing Lia.

Afterwards was Erza's turn, Lia cheered the loudest.

"I will show you a very special requip, a design by Lia Sephiran" Erza said from stage as she used her magic.

When Erza changed into the dress, seeing the crowd's reaction Lia smirked.

"And we have a winner" Lia said smugly

"You didn't look the type to be smug" Gajeel told her, he was behind the bar considering what Mira did.

"Mostly when it comes to my cloth designs" She told him

It was Levy's turn afterwards and she used her magic to form some words behind her.

Bisca came after already in a swimsuit she requiped a sniper and shot four coins at the same time while they were in air.

It was Lucy's turn she freaked out when max was about to say her last name, and came on the stage wearing a cheering costume.

She was about to make a cheer with her spirits when a voice interrupted.

"Entry number eight…" Evergreen came into stage surprising everyone "If you want a fairy, then you want me. If you want beauty, then you want me. Yes, I am all you want! The winner is obviously me, Evergreen! Okay! The Idiotic contest is now over!"

Lia stood up, she could feel something wrong. "Ever?!" Lia wondered she hadn't been focusing on using her magic sense so she didn't know she was here she used it and sensed Laxus, Freed and Bickslow too.

Lucy started to object when Evergreen started removing her glasses.

"Lucy, don't look into her eyes!" Lia and Gray shouted at the same time but they were too late, as Lucy was turned to stone.

"Everyone quickly escape!" Max yelled at the audience, who immediately started running.

Lia stood behind Master Makarov.

"What are you doing Evergreen?" He shouted at her "Do you plan on ruining the festival?"

"You need some entertainment for a festival, yes?" She asked laughing, as the curtain rose to show all the ones from the contest as stone statues.

"Stop this Ever!" Lia shouted at her glaring hard "Change them back!"

Lightning came from the ceiling and hit the stage, showing Laxus.

"Hey, you Fairy Fails!" He called "The festival's just getting started!"

"Laxus?" Master called confused

"Freed?" Gray called

"Bickslow over here too" Lia stated

"Thunder tripe?" Macao shocked

"Laxus's personal guard!" Wakaba stated

"Let's play, old man." Laxus stated as he stood on stage.

Lia appeared on his side with her hand extended.

"Explosion!" She called as an explosion happened as the smoke from it dispersed.

"Destroy!" Lia called as the lightning came at her and dispersed immediately.

"You really think you can fight me!" Laxus laughed as he stared at her, while she glared angrily back.

"Stop this right now!" She shouted at him. When she sensed ever beside her. She teleported from the stage while looking at the ground to stop from being affected.

"Enough of this foolishness!" Master shouted at Laxus "Return them to normal at once!"

"I wonder how many will be left to be in fantasia?" Laxus said making our eyes widen as lightning almost hit Lucy.

Lia immediately teleported next to Lucy, in case he tried anything again.

"Hurt my Guild mates Laxus, and I assure you won't be seeing the light of day!" Lia threatened even if she knew she couldn't hurt him that much, she wasn't going to back down when it concerned her guild mates.

He just laughed at her threat.

"These women are my hostages." He told them "If you break the rules, I'll shatter them, one by one. I told you remember, this is entertainment!"

"This isn't funny, Laxus!" Master replied

"I'm being serious!" He told him as the thunder tripe gathered around him.

"Let's just see who the strongest is in Fairy Tail." Freed said standing beside Ever.

"Time for fun!" Bickslow stated standing beside Laxus as his dolls repeated 'Fun!'

"The rules are simple! The last one standing is the winner! Battle of Fairy Tail!" Laxus stated

"I like it! Simple!" Natsu stated surprising us "I'm getting fired up!"

Natsu wasn't even understanding the gravity of the situation.

Lia on the stage beside Lucy glared hard, but being careful, right now she knew Laxus could be capable of following on his threat.

"I like that eager spirit of yours" Laxus stated as Master was surprised at Natsu.

"It's a festival, Gramps!" Natsu stated "Let's do this!"

"Don't you remember when you got beat by Laxus before?" Warren asked him as Natsu kept walking towards the stage.

"I was just a kid!" Natsu replied making Warren remind him that it was only last year.

"I was a kid last year!" Natsu replied jumping at Laxus.

"But I hate that you have no sense of flair" Laxus said "So cool down"

Lightning came down at Natsu and he was down with one hit.

"Natsu!" Lia and Gray called as Happy flew towards him.

"Aww, and he had just recovered…" Happy stated

"If you want these girls returned to normal, you must defeat us!" Evergreen stated

"There are 4 of us and around a 100 of you, right?" Bickslow stated

"100 on 4" His dolls said.

"You have three hours" Evergreen stated the thing Lia knew well "After that they turn to dust, I'm afraid"

"The field of battle is the entirely of Magnolia" Laxus stated "When you find us the battle begins."

"Laxus…" Master said as he changed into his titan form "Stop this foolishness!"

"Now, now! I said to cool down!" Laxus said "it's entertainment for the festival, see?" He started glowing with his magic blinding everyone in the guild "Let's have fun! Battle of Fairy Tail…Begin!"

When the light was gone the four of them had disappeared. Immediately almost all they guys had started running from the guild to find them.

Even Master started following them shouting he'll stop him. Lia followed behind him after giving the rest of the girls a look.

She stopped on the inside once she saw Gray trying to pull master through the door but It was like he was hitting an invisible wall.

"Damn it!" Lia cursed "Stop it Gray, it's one of Freed's runes"

He stopped and noticed the runes written.

"Freed's runes?" Gray asked so master explained to him

"What's written?" Gray asked

"Those older than 80 or stone status may not pass" I told him reading the runes

"A magic where the guy who sets the rules win?" Gray was shocked

"It takes a long time to write the runes" Master stated "it is not suited for sudden battles, but when it comes to setting traps, there's nothing better."

"which puts us in a terrible situation right now" Lia stated "They had time to prepare, the city is probably filled with runes"

"Can't you break it down, Gramps?" Gray asked

"The rune's rules are absolute!" Master stated.

"Man, they planned for everything!" Gray said frustrated.

"We'll have to be careful where to step" Lia said as she left the building too.

"Lia are you well enough to fight?" Master asked her concerned.

"I am fine, beside even if I was dying right now, I wouldn't sit still" Lia stated

"I don't care if he's your grandson or whatever, I ain't holding back" Gray stated angrily "I'll get Laxus"

Gray started running, Master looked down.

"No one out there right now can beat Laxus" Lia told him "Gildarts and Eiran are both away on missions, and the other S-class Mystogan we don't know where he is, Erza and Mira are frozen. So our best bet is to release them, which means taking down Ever!" She started to use her magic to change her cloth into something more fit for a battle.

Her cloth changed to a white turtle neck top and black skinny pants.

"Lia…" Master called quietly

"They're my friends after all, so…" Lia turned around "If anyone is bringing those three back to their senses It has to be me and I will to find Laxus and buy some time" She started running herself trying to sense Ever's magic and keeping an eye for Freed's runes.


	3. Battle of Fairy Tail

**Year x772**

Lia grinned as she stared at the red Fairy Tail mark on her right hand, she started cheering happily afterwards, she was finally an official Fairy Tail mage.

Lia was average height for an 9-year old, her orange hair was shoulder length and she was wearing a shoulder less blue shirt, with a red skirt and blue ballerina flats.

Watching her at the bar was Makarov and a woman who looked a lot like Lia. The woman had her orange hair gathered in a neat bun, with bangs framing her face, although she had brown eyes. She wore a button up white shirt with a blue vest over it and blue knee length pants, and blue heels.

Sophia Sephiran, was Lia's mother. She grinned at her daughter who was cheering happily, as she showed her mark to Cana, the little girl who had arrived at Fairy Tail recently.

"I didn't think I would see this ever" Sophia told Makarov "To actually think she can actually use magic after everything"

"She has Fairy Tail spirit, the tendency to like beating the odds" Makarov told the woman as he held the beer jug.

Lia walked toward the two boys closest to her age, Laxus and Eiran.

"Now I am much a mage as you" She told them grinning, as Eiran ruffled her hair with his own grin, as Lia complained.

"Now that your mage…" He trailed off looking towards Laxus "There's that thing we were discussing"

Lia looked between the two boys confused who were smirking.

"We've been thinking of forming a team" Laxus told her with hands in his pockets "So what do you think?"

 **Year X784**

Lia ran through magnolia, trying to find Evergreen but at the same time trying to avoid running into of her other guild mates, the runes had kept appearing telling her what was happening all around town.

"There!" She muttered to herself as she finally sensed Ever's magic. After reaching the place she jumped away dodging a volley of magical beams.

"Why don't you just go down easily, Lia?" Ever asked as she stood on the roof of a building. "At least we both wouldn't have to fight"

"I could say the same to you, Ever!" Lia replied glaring at her "Why the hell are you doing this? You guys should have stopped Laxus not joined in this idiocy"

"You call it idiocy, but we're just weeding out the weak" She replied opening her fan "The guild is just so full of unworthy people"

"I thought the reason you joined Fairy Tail was because of the name that coincided with the fact you always wanted to be a fairy? What the hell that does have to do with being powerful?!" Lia asked her angrily "Strength doesn't just come from being the strongest! If you don't even understand that, you don't have the right to yourself a fairy!"

Ever glared back at Lia.

"Have it your way!" Ever yelled as she waved her arm "Fairy machine gun: Leprechaun!" releasing a torrent of energy needles, Lia disappeared appearing behind Ever waving her arm.

"Explosion!" Lia yelled as the air between them exploded, but Ever had flown to get away.

"Let's just end this!" Ever said as she started removing her glasses, Lia immediately closed her eyes "You think you can fight blind?"

"You know I can" Lia replied as she relied completely on her magic sense, following of the motion of Evergreen's magic particles.

"Too late!" Ever had flown around her releasing her fairy dust "Fairy bomb: Gremlin!" as the explosion sounded around her, Lia just focused her magic.

"Destroy!" She yelled stopping the spell from harming her. "Body enchant: Celero!" She enchanted herself increasing her speed as she ran forward heading for Evergreen with her eyes still closed.

Ever started flying away while firing her Fairy machine gun spell at Lia who had kept dodging while following her, her eyes open to see where she was stepping.

"You can dodge this many!" Ever stated impressed "So let's how you do with double the amount."

More needles were thrown at her as she was hit with a couple, so she just teleported to the air.

"Magic missile: Fire!" Lia called as three fireballs hit Ever and threw her backwards hitting a wall above a roof as Lia appeared in front of her and used her magic on the wall so that Ever's arms were cuffed to it. "Now change everyone back! And we'll consider it over and done!"

"Aren't you being a little naïve here?" Ever asked her as Lia raised her eyebrow "I learned a new ability while you were away, Remote control!"

Lia froze for a second.

"Now release me at once, if you do not…" Ever told Lia who looked at the ground her bangs covering her eyes "I can turn those stone women into piles of rubble from here!"

Lia crouched on the ground as Ever smirked but was surprised, when 10 stone blades were around Lia and that Lia stood now with another stone blade in her right hand, all of them made from the roof. Lia looked up with an intense glare at the brown haired woman.

"Oh? you would go that far, huh, Ever?" Lia asked in menacing tone "Well you know how I react when someone threatens my friends! So I hope you're prepared to give your life for it!"

Evergreen blinked and sweat hard as she stared with a terrified expression, and eventually screamed.

Lia just punched her on the head with her other hand, "That's how bluff, you use what they already know against them!" Lia told her flatly.

"I give!" Ever told her twitching.

Back at the guild, Master, Natsu and Gajeel were still stuck inside, Erza had gotten out of her stone status a few minutes ago and had ran into the city, Mystogan had joined the battle too so they just watched the runes following the latest report stating that only five remained.

As the stone spell and all the women broke free from the spell, Natsu and Happy cheered, while master read the runes.

"Lia vs Evergreen. Winner: Lia!" Master read as he cheered.

Although, Laxus wasn't as happy at the result.

"Since when did you get so weak, Ever?" Laxus stated angrily punching a column as Freed walked towards him.

"Lia has always been stronger when it comes to fighting opponents who use ranged magic" Freed stated, He was happy that the Lia had returned but right now they were on opposite sides "This was a job for me"

Lia was already running through the town again, this time trying to find Laxus. Using the body enchant she had cast on herself earlier made traveling faster.

She hadn't bothered to ask Ever about his location, she knew how loyal they were to Laxus and she knew none of them would give it away.

She stopped when she sensed Erza's magic and headed towards her.

"Erza!" She called to the red head who stopped in her track hearing Lia. "So everyone's okay?"

"It was just me that broke out of it, I was trying to find Evergreen to release the rest" Erza explained

"Already dealt with her, so the girls back at the guild should be free" Lia told her "What's left is finding Laxus!"

"You tried to ask Evergreen?"

"Nope!" Lia replied "She wouldn't have given it to me, probably would have sent to some random spot."

"So what now?" Erza asked before Lia could say anything she noticed the Lacrima hanging in the air, and so did Erza.

"There's Huge amount of magic in them" Lia said as she sensed the lightning magic particles all around the city, they were strong enough that she could sense them all the way from where she was.

"Is he taking all of the city hostage!" Erza stated angrily

"We better separate to cover more ground, I will send a signal if I find anything" Lia told her without waiting for an answer she ran in a direction she knew was opposite to that leading to the guild. "Laxus knows about my ability to sense magic, he would have hided somewhere out of my range which has to be somewhere away from the guild" She said trying to gather her thoughts and figure where he could be hiding.

It was then that the runes appeared declaring Lucy winning after defeating Bickslow.

"Good job, Lucy!" Lia cheered as she took running again. She did stop when the runes showed Juvia lost against Cana followed by Cana losing against Freed causing her to frown especially more when it showed Mira was fighting Freed, after sensing the sudden release of magic in the air one she recognized immediately as Mira's'.

She did see the huge explosion that appeared minutes after. "Mira…" She whispered.

The magic disappeared before the runes appeared again.

"Freed vs Mirajane: both remove themselves from contention" Lia read as she heaved a sigh of relief "Only Laxus is left" as she took off running again.

She ran for a while before finally stopping at the bridge passing over the water cannel and seeing it in a distance "Kardia Cathedral?!" nodding to herself she started running towards it, when it in her magic sensing range, she sensed it. "He's there!" and he wasn't alone someone else was there too.

Stopping at the doors she raised her as magic shot out forming a firework that took Fairy Tail's mark in the sky.

Natsu, Gajeel, both of them now free from the enchantment thanks to Levy, and Erza all saw the mark from their location.

She entered to see Mystogan and Laxus standing opposite to each other. She didn't know Mystogan but sensing the amount of magic he possessed, she gathered he was S-rank.

"Mystogan, right?" She asked as she walked inside and stood beside him, who nodded.

"So you're going to fight me too, Lia?" He told her with a mocking tone.

"If you call off the thunder palace right now, it is still possible to pass this off as merely entertainment" Mystogan told Laxus.

"Just stop this already, Laxus" Lia tried reasoning with him "Erza is on her way here too, the thunder tribe has already been defeated, there's no point in continuing this"

"No point you say?" He wondered with a laugh "The point is to find out the strongest person in the guild, after haven't you heard the rumors figuring who is the strongest in Fairy Tail, you or me?"

"Although I don't really care, aren't you forgetting Erza?" Mystogan asked him

"Her? Not a chance" Laxus replied "She's on the right tracks, but still weak"

"We all know when it comes to the strongest, that no one can hold a candle to Gildarts" Lia told him "And you would better not underestimate Erza or forget about Eiran."

"But that man is as good as dead going on that century job" Laxus replied "So might as well keep it between the living. Eiran is probably the weakest in the S-rank" That made Lia glare angrily at him as she gathered her magic.

"Erza, weak?" Mystogan chuckled "Are you truly that blind?"

"Considering everything I would say he probably is" Lia commented.

"I'm saying I recognize your skills, Mystogan" Laxus said "I wonder which one of us is really the strongest in Fairy Tail? Let's settle this. We'll decide who's the strongest!"

"You would do well not to ignore me Laxus" Lia told him still ready to move any second

"Mystogan…" Laxus started ignoring Lia "or rather, another…"

He didn't get to finish as Mystogan stopped him and both of them released a beam of magic, which causing an explosion between them.

Lia appeared behind Laxus, but before she could do anything a lightning beam was about to hit her so she teleported away into the air.

"Magic missile: Fire!" She said as three balls of fire headed towards Laxus who dodged them easily.

"Where did you learn of that?" Mystogan asked him

"Oh? that's quite rare to see you panic…" Laxus stated with a smirk "Where did I find out? Who knows? Maybe I'll tell you if you beat me."

"You'll regret this Laxus" Mystogan told him "You will now witness magic that you have never seen before!" Lia had sensed Mystogan building his magic so she stood to the side so she wouldn't get in his way.

"Ooh, Scary!" Laxus mocked "Give me your best shot, buddy. I'll show you just how different we two are!"

"Tower of Babel" Mystogan said placing his staves in front of him as he focused the illusion on Laxus.

"What a joke!" Laxus mocked as he broke the illusion

"I told you not to ignore me" Lia said in a menacing tone placing a hand to his back "Body enchant: Contero!" The spell causing his defenses to weaken, but with not enough time to attack as lightning almost hit her she teleported to the side.

"You really think an illusion and a pity enchantment would work on me?" Laxus shouted at us, making Lia smirk.

"Separately no" Lia told him

"Impressive but you noticed just a bit too late" Mystogan told him as the magic circle at Laxus feet activated. And more Magic circles formed above him.

"Sleep! Five layered magic circle, Sacred song!" Mystogan said pointing his staff at Laxus.

"Watch out!" Lia called to Mystogan as Laxus smirked.

"Which one of us is the one that didn't notice?" Laxus asked him as the magic circle with lightning hit Mystogan.

Both attacks hit as Lia tried to hold her ground from the after math of the spells. While the two men came almost unscathed.

"Laxus!" Natsu and Erza called standing at the Cathedral door, before they noticed each other.

Laxus used the chance to hit Mystogan directly, causing his mask to be destroyed. Lia was confused when she noticed Erza and Natsu's expression.

"Jellal?" Erza asked "You're alive…?" Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Oh, a familiar face?" Laxus asked with a smirk

"What's going on here?" Natsu asked.

"That's what I want to understand myself!" Lia muttered to herself confused

"Are you Mystogan or Jellal?" Natsu asked him.

After saying that he wasn't Jellal, Mystogan disappeared into smoke as Natsu called for him. "I'll deal with that later! Laxus, I came here to fight!" Natsu shouted as he looked towards Lia than Erza who was shaking "Erza, Lia, you'll let me handle him, right?"

"Erza!" Natsu called again and just about when lightning was about to hit her, she was pushed out of the way by Lia, who got hit instead and screamed. She didn't have the magic to destroy the spell, so she decided better her than Erza.

Lia was thrown back by the spell and she rolled on the ground.

"See what making ugly faces did?" He asked Erza as Lia was barley moving, Erza crouched beside the Orange haired girl.

"Lia…" She called as Natsu fought Laxus.

"I don't know what's going on, Erza" She said quietly to the red head, her body hurt all over and she was sure a few of her injuries that were beginning to heal were open again. "But right now isn't the time to lose it, we need to save the city. There aren't many of us left standing so we can't afford to lose you too"

Natsu was pushed back by a hit from Laxus.

"Natsu…" Erza called worriedly He assured her before both he and Laxus started to exchange punches.

"Go Erza, you need to help him!" Lia told her as she pushed herself to sit up, Erza nodded before jumping towards Natsu and pushing him into the ground.

Lia on other hand managed to push herself into a cross legged position, she doesn't know how long it has been since she had done this, she didn't remember, but to do it in the middle of battle! But she knew she needed the energy, so she used the chance that Laxus and Erza were fighting, so she started meditating and focusing on gathering the ethernano in the air to help her magic recover.

She didn't get far when Erza asked Laxus about the Lacrima in the air and he replied that it was thunder palace, she didn't need anyone to tell her that they differently weren't there for decoration.

But what surprised her and broke her concentration was when Laxus said there were two minutes left and that they had body link magic on them. Concentrate! She needed to gather the magic if they wanted to destroy those things.

"I learned that the most important thing is power!" Laxus said making Lia lose her concentration again as she forced herself to stand with a chuckle surprising everyone.

"Power?!" She asked him again "You really thing that's the most important thing? Even people with power die Laxus and then what does having power do for them? You must have lost your brain somewhere if you don't realize that power isn't everything!"

"Erza, Lia stop it now" Natsu shouted at us "I told you, I'll be the one to take on Laxus!" Seeing his determined look Lia and Erza smiled.

"Guess I'll believe in you then" Erza told him as Lia pushed herself to walk with her palm open.

"Magic missile: Fire!" Lia called a fireball in her hand and pushed it towards Natsu "Beat some sense into him!"

As he ate it, both women headed towards the door as Natsu stopped them.

"Are you going to stop the thunder palace?" Natsu asked them as Laxus laughed.

"You don't have a chance" Laxus told them "Just destroying one risks your life and right now there are countless Lacrima up there. There's no time either"

"We'll just have to destroy all of them at the same time!" Lia said "It's the only way" Making Laxus stop laughing.

"Impossible!" Laxus called "and if you did you really wouldn't survive"

"But the city would be saved" Erza stated and her and Lia started running into town.

"Stop Laxus, Natsu!" Erza called.

"We are counting on you, Natsu!" Lia called at the same time.

"Guess I should believe in both of you too" Natsu called to them making Erza nod as Lia raised her hand in an ok sign "I don't mean what's possible or impossible…Believing in you coming back safe!"

"Don't worry I am not dying twice!" Lia called back before she turned to the red head "Erza, I will handle the ones to the south"

"I will handle the north than" Erza replied as they separated "Lia make sure to come back!"

"Right back at you!" Lia shouted at her.


	4. Fantasia!

**Year x779**

Laxus, Lia and Eiran entered the guild with the latter two bickering like they always do, they had been on an S-class job for a few days now, with Laxus becoming S-class last year, Makarov allowed the two to go with Laxus on some of the S-rank jobs.

Lia and Eiran stopped fighting though when they noticed the gloomy atmosphere around the guild, everyone just sat quietly and Lia swore she noticed some pity looks.

They walked towards Makarov at the bar, Gildarts was at the bar as well, but with the look on his face, Lia didn't dare smile, she had a feeling something bad happened.

Even Laxus who had been avoiding talking to Makarov lately, walked with the other two to the bar wanting to know what had happened that managed to do the impossible and quiet the guild.

"We're back gramps" Lia told the elder who looked like he was struggling with words

"Welcome back you three" He told them before his eyes focused on Lia and Eiran "I don't know how to tell you this…"

Lia was even more worried as that feeling grew, Eiran beside her was afraid of that tone, it was one he knew very well.

"We got a message yesterday…" Makarov started "Lia, Eiran, Sophia had…She's died on her job"

Eiran froze, while Lia felt like someone had punched the breath out of her.

"But mom…" Lia started unbelieving "She's one of the strongest mages in the guild. She's…She can't be…"

 **Year x784**

Lia made teleported to a high enough roof and sat cross legged gathering magical energy and releasing it at the same time as her fire balls started appearing around her floating in the air, by the time she had managed to form the 100th one she was breathing hard and shaking a bit. Passing that much magical energy and controlling it was proving to be difficult.

"Not enough" She muttered as she generated one more. "I have to do it, somehow…" she forced another to appear

"Hey, can everyone hear me?" A voice said in her head all of a sudden

"Warren?" She heard Erza wondering too.

"Telepathy?" Lia wondered herself

"This is an emergency, Look up at the sky!" Warren said "Wake up you lazy bums!"

Some of their guild mates started responding to the telepathy.

"And if there's anyone still fighting, hold up for now!" Warren continued

"What's this?" Lucy wondered "There's a voice in my head…"

"That's warren's telepathy." Happy explained "He can speak directly into people's minds."

"Exactly what we need right now" Lia commented

"Listen up, everyone!" Warren called "We gotta destroy those things floating in the sky with all the magic power we got! It's a magic spell from Laxus that'll attack the city! There's no time! Everyone do it!"

"Warren, why do you know about the thunder palace?" Erza through the link

"I think that can wait for now Erza" Lia replied "We don't have that much time"

"That voice…Erza?" Gray asked "You're okay?"

"Gray!" Erza asked "I see, so it was you."

"Yeah, took me a while to find the guy" Gray explained

"So if Erza's okay…" Droy trailed

"…Are the others? Is Levy?" Jet finished for him

"Everyone is safe" Cana said "Worry not."

"Juvia is also okay" Elfman said

"So is Bisca, Alzack." Mira assured too.

"Sorry, my telepathy can't reach all the way to the guild." Warren apologized "We'll have to do with the people who can hear me. Destroy those things in the sky!"

Of course things couldn't go so smoothly, everyone started fighting what they did to each other through the entire thing, Lia looked down she was still breathing hard and didn't need the headache forming because of the shouting besides she was barely holding her concentration.

"Shut the hell up!" Lia shouted through the link "We have less than a minute before those things destroy the city and you're fighting with each other?"

Somehow the shouting turned to people saying they were stronger than the other one.

"Everyone listen!" Lucy called everyone's attention "This isn't the time to be fighting! The people of the city are in real danger! We have to all work together to protect the city of Magnolia! If we combine our powers, we can overcome anything! That's what I've learned after coming here. I know I just joined Fairy Tail recently, but my feelings for this guild are as strong as anybody's! Fairy Tail has been my dream since long ago…It's always been my goal, even now. So please…Let's all work together…Let's protect our guild…and our city!" Lia smiled at the blonde's words "And if that won't convince you…I'll destroy all the lacrima myself!"

"Listen up people!" Cana shouted "You really gonna let the newbie one up you like that?"

Everyone calmed down and started to gather their spirits

"I'll handle the 200 to the north!" Erza informed them

"I've got the 100 to the south!" Lia told them as well while standing up "We'll leave the rest to you"

Everyone gathered their magic and aimed them at the Lacrimas.

"Magic missile: Fire!" Lia shouted as she waved her hands towards the Lacrimas, successfully destroying the 100, everyone managed to destroy the lacrimas till there were none left.

Lia fell to the ground as the pieces of the destroyed lacrimas glittered around her. It was then that body link magic took effect and everyone was hit with it, but Lia and Erza had it stronger.

"Honestly…" Erza started "you people are so reckless."

"Birds of a feather, you know…" Gray said

"Let's just not do this again!" Lia told them chuckling "I think we can find a better way to spend our time"

Making the ones still conscious chuckled.

"We really are a great guild" Erza stated

"And we'd be even better if Laxus got over his rebellious phase" Macao said

"No kidding" Wakaba agreed

"We left Natsu in charge of that, should be fun to watch if we could move!" Lia stated chuckling, "I am gonna rest my eyes a bit till then"

"I'm with you on that" Gray agreed.

Natsu did managed to defeat Laxus with Gajeel's help, but both dragon slayers were like waling mummies.

they did have to postpone the fantasia parade to the next day, considering all of them could barely move.

While Erza informed the guild that master was better now after Porlyusica had left, Lia was in the infirmary, sitting by his bed.

Lia was bandaged a bit, but for the most part she was ok.

"You're going to do it no matter what right?" Lia asked him, she knew what awaited Laxus, it was how the guild could be kept safe.

"You're going to try and talk me out of it?" Master asked her while he was still sitting in bed.

She shook her head. "He needs some time away…" she stated "But when you'll eventually have to let him back into the guild, when the time comes I will argue with you then." She sensed Laxus's magic as he entered the guild, so she stood up. "Get well gramps, we can't have the parade without you" She left the infirmary, to see Laxus standing at the door.

"He's waiting for you" She told him getting out of the way and making it outside the guild where she stood by the gates, waiting for the blond to come out.

She leaned against the gates till he did eventually come out. "Do you think he was unfair?" She asked him and he was surprised to see her waiting for him.

"No, it's after all how he protected the guild for so long" He replied

"At least you're thinking straight again" She told him chuckling "This really wasn't the reunion I had mind, I wasn't expecting hugs and tears but still…" She laughed, while he had the faintest of smiles.

"I'm sorry, Lia!" He told her

"What are you apologizing to me for?" She asked him with a chuckle. "I am not one to hold a grudge you know, it's all long forgotten as long as you don't do it again that is"

"You really haven't changed a bit" He said with a small smile "So still…"

"It's a thing that helped me a lot, so of course I am still following it" She told him "Move forward, don't let the past hold you back and don't let your circumstances define you. Not a bad thing"

"No it isn't. Can I ask you something?" He asked her as she nodded.

"What happened four years ago?" He asked her as she shook her head.

"I don't remember" She told him "There's no trace what so ever of those four years." He sighed "Anyway what are you going to do now?"

They started walking side by side.

"Travel around" He told her

"Once you're bored with that come home okay?" She told him quietly "Consider my forgiveness withdrawn if you don't"

"Home? I don't think I have the right to that" He told her stopping as she stopped and did something that surprised him.

"Idiot!" She stated as she hugged him "Your home is right here and it's not going anywhere, believe it or not, even if they're mad now, everyone from Fairy Tail, whether a current member or a former one is family. You need to remember that. After all that's where our strength is" She broke the hug and erased the few tears that was in her eyes. "When you come back leave gramps to me, I will make sure he lets you back in"

"Alright" He told her patting her head

"By the way if you meet, the other idiot, Eiran tell him to come home too" She told Laxus as they continued walking.

"Will do, although I think we he hears you're back, he'll come running" He said with a chuckle "I never said it properly but glad to have you back, Lia"

She smiled at that. "I will have the thunder tribe meet you in the park, you have to say goodbye before leaving" She told him as she started heading in a different direction.

She did manage to gather them and Laxus showed up by sundown as he told them he was expelled.

"You've got to be kidding me" Ever objected while Lia leaned against the tree. "Why are you the only one that's expelled?"

"Aren't we just as guilty?" Bickslow asked frustrated.

"It's what the old man decided" Laxus told them

"Then we'll quit" Ever said

"You three aren't going anywhere" Lia told ever "I have a punishment in mind for you three" causing them to shudder while Laxus smiled

"What a pain you guys are" Laxus stated "What? Can't you just say goodbye?"

"Why are you trying to take all the responsibility on yourself?" Freed asked

"Unlike you, I don't have any attachments left to the guild" Laxus said

"Idiot!" Lia said under hear breath but not subtly.

"We'll ask the master" Ever said "Lia you're okay with this?"

Lia shrugged.

"I'm sure Natsu and Gray will be against your expulsion!" Bickslow added "No matter what they say, they…"

Lia didn't miss the smile on his face, as he picked his stuff and started walking away waving back at them.

"Stay well" He told them

Ever and Bickslow called after him and Ever started crying.

"He needs that time alone guys" Lia told them as she put a hand on Ever's shoulder "He'll be back before you know it"

Freed smiled too as he stared after him.

"Now for your punishment" Lia stood in front of them with a menacing glare as they shuddered "No jobs for two weeks and you have to be at the guild everyday"

They blinked at the punishment.

"No more isolating yourself from everyone in the guild, got it?" Lia asked them with a grin as the smiled. "That and you owe me for the fact you never welcomed me back to the guild"

"Lia…" Ever called as she hugged Lia, who hugged her back, who chuckled.

The night came before they knew it and with it came the time for the parade. Cana showed her card magic beside Wakaba and Macao.

Bisca, Lucy and Levy danced with flags, Elfman and Mira had a display for a princess in a tower with Elfman being the beast, everyone awed till the point Mira turned to a giant lizard.

Gray and Juvia showcased a beautiful castle with water flowing around, and finished with writing Fairy Tail.

Erza danced with her swords and requiped to different costumes. Lia was wearing a knee length strapless red dress with a yellow ribbon at the waist and she had long wide sleeves that started from her elbows, she used her magic to make fireworks of different colors and ended in different forms, while making them dance around her too.

Natsu walked with happy using his fire to spill Fairy Tail. Everyone in the guild participated and showed different shows with their magic, and the master came in the end on a float wearing a monkey like suit and jumping and dancing around.

Lia sensed Laxus in the crowds and managed to spot him, also when he turned around to walk away.

In front of Laxus two words appeared, Look back. So he turned around to see Everyone raising their hands, in the sign known in the guild.

Even if I can't see where you are, I'm always looking at you!


	5. The Crystal mage

A week had passed since the harvest festival, things had calmed down again. Lia was in her house in front of the mirror removing the last of the annoying bandages.

"Finally!" She cheered, she was wearing a red Shoulder less top with long sleeves, black pleated skirt that reached mid-thigh and black tights under, with mid-calf black boots.

Lia had been waiting to heal patiently but right now all she wanted was to finally go out on a job. So she made her way to the guild to do just that.

Speaking of the guild, everyone was shocked when they found out Laxus was expelled, Natsu sounding the loudest and the longest complains although they had managed to shut him up yesterday.

Another thing they found out was about Laxus was a dragon slayer because of the lacrima embedded in him when he was a child, something Lia had kept a secret for Laxus for a while.

Also master had tried to step down from his position, everyone tried to convince him against it but he only listened when Freed talked to him about not making Laxus's punishment any worse.

Freed did get a laugh from Lia when she saw his repentance haircut. Considering the thunder tribe, they were following with Lia's punishment and were staying at the guild and socializing with everyone, although because of that Lucy had another person to help annoy her with Happy.

Lia was happy to see her three friends fitting in like that.

Now getting the chance, Lia started to get to know the new members better, mainly Lucy, Juvia and Gajeel, although the last was the most annoying and didn't comply till Lia bribed him the way she did with Natsu, through giving them their element to eat.

There was also Erza, who had been more quiet and lonesome, Lia had gotten the story about what happened in the tower of heaven from Natsu, Lucy and Gray and Natsu pointed how Mystogan looked like Jellal.

She couldn't really help the red head though, so she just hoped that time would help her and tried to distract her with cake.

Now at the guild Lia cheered happily as she saw Erza had won the Miss Fairy Tail contest with Lucy in second place and Juvia in third.

"Expected when it was my design put with Erza's charm" Lia said smugly at the bar, a small plate with some breakfast in front of her.

"You're still so proud about your designs" Mira told her with a smile.

"You're so dang cute!" Cana shouted all of a sudden as Lucy fritted beside her "Listen, everyone! Lucy's never had a boyfriend!" A lot of the people laughed as Lia quieted down and played with her food.

"Come to think of it, you never had a boyfriend either Lia, right?" Mira told orange head sweetly causing her to freeze.

"It's not my fault" Lia cried "I had the luck to disappear in my teenage years."

"That wasn't the only reason Lia" Mira told her laughing like she knew something she didn't, Mira went to wait tables as Erza came running wearing a dress.

"Oh right the reporter is coming in today" She said remembering, before finishing her food "Which reminds me about time I got a job"

When Lia started heading to the request board she sweat drop at Lucy's creepy expression. "What did you do Cana?" Lia asked the brunette "Lucy looks like she lost it!"

Cana raised her hand saying she's innocent before Lucy ran out of the guild. When Lia started heading to the request board, Mira stopped her, "You're staying for the interview, Lia"

"But I want to go on a job" Lia whined before pouting.

"A job can wait!" Mira told her as she forced Lia to sit at the bar.

"Looks like you're stuck with us!" Ever laughed at Lia at which the latter glared at the former causing her to shrink.

"Are you sure you're ready to go out on a mission?" Freed asked her

"I don't care; I just don't want to be stuck doing nothing" She was pouting

A loud shout came from the door as someone kept repeating cool.

"Either a reporter or a crazy fan?" Lia asked as Mira assured her he was the reporter "I still say he's a crazy fan"

He interviewed Erza first as they sat beside her at the bar, before he ran towards Gray and Juvia, and he managed to get himself punched by Natsu, he started going from member to member even interviewing Happy, Lia could see Lucy trying to get his attention the entire time and failing unlike her Lia was completely happy to be ignored as she enjoyed a cup of coffee.

He did notice her in the end taking her by surprise.

"Lia Sephiran, the elemental enchanter's daughter, coooool!" He said as he noticed her making her cringe before she forced a smile

"Yeah that's me" She told him after all her mother was a famous S-rank mage she was used to being called her daughter, she still wasn't recognized by herself.

"So how does it feel to be back in the guild?" He asked

"Feels great, Fairy Tail is the best after all" She answered grinning while chanting in her mind for him to leave

"and what were you doing the last four years?"

"I don't remember what happened to me it doesn't feel like time passed" She answered with the chant growing stronger

"So you use particle magic too like your mother?"

"yeah, although I don't have a certain style with like her"

"Cool! So are you single?"

"Yes" She answered "Looks like someone calling, see ya!" She ran off hiding on the second floor. "I hate interviews"

She did hear a commotion from down stairs when she looked the guild was being destroyed by the two dragon slayers fighting.

Lia did cheer when the reporter got hit in the middle of the fight but somehow survived.

By the end of the day Lia sat depressed at the bar at the fact she didn't get to go on a job. "You can always go tomorrow Lia" Mira tried to assure the orange head, who just decided to go home.

"One way or another I am going on a mission tomorrow" Lia said to herself as laid in her bed after making it home.

The next day the moment she finished eating her breakfast at home, she went towards the guild and straight to the request board.

She froze and groaned when she sensed a familiar magic coming towards the guild, as the said figure entered the guild hall.

"I almost thought I was in the wrong place!" He yelled standing at the railing, while grapping his satchel. As much as she wanted to see him again couldn't he have chosen a time when she was still not allowed to go on jobs.

She stared at her friend, seeing the 22 years old him, he did grow in height almost as Laxus, although he wasn't as muscled, his blue Fairy Tail mark on the right side of his neck.

He had blue hair with the spiked bangs and black eyes, he was wearing a brown jacket with a short sleeved blue shirt under it and black pocket pants where the ends were tucked into grey combat boots.

"Welcome back, Eiran!" Mira greeted him as he walked towards the bar not even noticing the orange head by the request board.

"Hey Mira, Master!" He greeted the two with the master sitting on the bar drinking, as he placed the satchel on the ground "I heard about what happened with Phantom, sorry I wasn't here, I didn't hear about it till it was over with"

"It's okay, so how did the job go?" Master asked him as he grinned.

"A success of course" He stated.

Eiran was one of Fairy Tail's S-class, so the mission he was on was an S-rank but he was doing a few side missions as well.

"Eiran you're back!" Natsu running towards the guy "Fight me, now!"

"Give me a break Natsu, I just came back!" He laughed but when the fire dragon slayer didn't stop. He used his magic on the floor and Natsu face planted, when his leg was held by crystal all of a sudden, making a lot of the guild laugh.

Lia was thinking of taking a request and running since she knew the moment he noticed her she would forget about going on a job today.

"On the other hand master, I heard some news" He said as he accepted a bear from Mira. "That Lia was back"

Lia rolled her eyes as she walked closer.

"You still have the worst eye" She told him "I was right by the door and you didn't even notice!"

"Lia?!" He looked at her surprised "I didn't recognize you!"

"I didn't change that much idiot" She told him huffing "Sometimes I wonder how you're S-class"

"Another S-class?" Lucy wondered from the table she was sitting at with Happy and Erza.

"Eiran isn't as known as the rest of us and he prefers it that way" Erza told her as she enjoyed a bite from her cake.

"Welcome back…" Eiran told Lia before smirking "Pumpkin head"

She glared at him, one thing Lia wasn't good at was coming was retorts or insults, somehow she couldn't do it even though, that guy had annoyed her with names for as long as she remembered. "You're asking for it, Brack!"

"Oh come on, I haven't had a chance to make fun of you in a while" He told her, he didn't expect it when the floor under him disappeared and he ended up in the game room downstairs.

Lia looked up from the hole smirking at him.

"Now you're asking for it!" He retorted angrily as he gathered his magic and shot crystal needles at the orange head who ducked away from the hall.

Eiran made his way upstairs, but was hit with Lia's magic missiles at the top of the stairs.

In the back Lucy sighed and here she thought Lia might not be as destructive as the others but it looked like the tendency to fight was in almost everyone raised in the guild.

"Crystal Boulder" Eiran yelled as a medium sized dark blue crystal bolder appeared, Lia teleported to the railing of the second floor. On the other hand, Natsu who was still to free his legs from the crystal wasn't as lucky, as the boulder hit him and he was sent rotating with it and getting motion sick as well.

He did stop when he hit a wall ad slid down holding his stomach.

"Calm down you two!" Master yelled at them, he wasn't having the guild hall destroyed.

"He started it!" Lia stated.

"You threw the first spell" Eiran retorted

"Technically it was aimed at the floor and you just happened to stand there" She told him "And you're the one that made fun of me"

A lot of those around the guild were used to those two going at each other like that ever since they were a kids so they were amused and glad that it was back, while the new members didn't know what to make of it.

"Not my fault your hair reminds me of pumpkins" He told her snorting, when he was about to be hit in the face, he caught Lia's punch "Gotta try harder than that"

"Lia didn't you say you wanted to go on a job?" Mira asked her interfering as she tried to distract Lia, she turned around and was immediately at the board, picking a simple job to catch a thief in a neighboring town, master approved it and she was gone before anyone could comprehend. Just how she wanted it.

"She really wanted to go on a job, didn't she?" Eiran stated laughing to himself.

"She hasn't managed to go on one since she came back" Mira explained to him "With everything that happened during the harvest festival, she had to recover even longer"

Eiran frowned though not knowing what happened.

"I tell you what happened while you're away" Mira told him "You missed a lot of things"

"So how did the mission go?" Makarov asked him

"Success, I managed to track the dark guild, Bannerskulls, eventually found them and took them down, what took long was the finding them part" He told him as Mira handed him a drink and he thanked her "Although they did end up giving their own location with how desperate they were lately to get their hands on money"

"The dark guilds activity has gone up lately" Mira stated "Could something be going on?"

"Probably" He said scratching his head "Which means I will probably be on the road soon to gather information again" He stretched

"Good job." Makarov told him

"And that other thing…" Eiran started with a serious look, Mira left to wait the tables. "I gathered the information you asked but…I haven't anything solid on them though everything is pretty vague but considering they just got on the radar, it's to be expected…also if it isn't obvious Oracion Seis is up to something, apparently they upped the payment they take from the dark guilds under them and according to Bannerskulls, they're supposed to gather soon for something"

"I see" Makarov stated thoughtful "Anyway good job"

Mira came back a little after, and She and Eiran started talking.

After being informed of what happened while he was away, Eiran was sitting at the bar talking to Mira.

"So he was expelled huh?" He asked thoughtfully to himself. "Well that man will be back in no time, no need to worry he needs to clear his head so a bit of traveling will do him good."

Master almost wanted to shake his head, he knew for sure that Lia and Eiran would be annoying him at some point to let Laxus in.

"Lia said almost the same thing when I talked to her about it" Mira said giggling "You two have so much trust in him"

"Figures, we were a team at some point" He told her "And we did grow up together. What interests me is the fact Lia can't remember a thing from the four years, from what I know there's no dark guild activity around Alder town which could mean she had to have gotten away from a long distance, I wonder if she should have gone on a job on her own so soon"

"You just saw her again and already worrying?" Mira asked him with a giggle.

"Of course, She's like my little sister, and an annoying one at that" He stated "Beside we wouldn't want her to go missing again"

"No we don't, I am glad she made it home alive." Mira stated sadly as Eiran gripped her hand to assure her.

"I will be heading home to rest a bit, see you later Mira" He stated after a while

"Take care!" She told him as he carried his satchel and waved towards her.

The next day in the guild, Lia sat at the bar enjoying some breakfast, while Lucy beside her laid her head on the bar bored.

"Nothing to do!" Lucy complained.

"Why don't you go on a job?" Mira suggested while wiping some dishes

"Well Natsu said he wanted to rest for a little while." Lucy stated puffing her cheeks

"We could go together" Lia told her "It could be fun"

"I would like that but I have a reasonability to him since we're on the same team." Lucy replied, Lia smiled at what the blonde said, she missed having a team.

"You guys really get along well" Mira told her as Lia agreed "Like you're a couple!" Startling Lucy who disagreed.

"We are not!" She stated angrily

"But Natsu might really love you, Lucy!" Mira told her with a wink.

"Spare the poor girl, Mira" Lia told the white headed girl though Lia looked between the two, while Lucy watched Natsu dance weirdly in the guild. "But I see what you're getting at."

"Even if that's the case, I think I'll pass" Lucy stated sweat dropping

Lia chuckled, she might not see it but Natsu held Lucy in high regard, Lia could notice it in the little time she has known the blonde.

"I am going to take another mission" Lia said standing up as she picked up a mission a certain blue head tried to sneak on her at the request board. "You realize I know you're there"

"You realize you're sensing takes the fun out of things" He told her as he stood beside her with crossed hands. "And since when did you start using it around the guild?"

She shrugged before focusing on the board again.

"Didn't you just go on a job yesterday?" He asked her

"And I am going on one today too" She replied "I have had to sit still for a while and I making up for lost time"

"You used to take that time to read" He stated "Did that change?"

"No but I haven't been to find books that's good" She replied before a request was held in front of her by the taller blue head.

"Want to go together for old times' sake?" He dangled the request in front of her as she pretended to think while fighting a smile.

"Fine" She said sighing as he grinned at her and gave her the request. It was a job to retrieve an item from some thieves, the reward was 400,000 jewels.

They went towards Mira who approved it before they headed out. "Meet at the train station in half an hour" Lia waved as she headed home.

She put some essentials into her messenger bag, it was a bag given to her by her mother, it was enchanted so that it can hold even in a fight, there were actually two the other probably lost within the four years.

She changed her cloth into a yellow boat neck short sleeved shirt, with a light blue jeans jacket and dark blue long pants with yellow flats, with her hair in a ponytail.

She made her way to the station and waited for Eiran who showed a few minutes after, with his own messenger bag. After getting on the train, they both sat opposite to each other.

"So how have you been settling in?" He asked her.

"Okay I guess" She answered sighing "Just feeling a little weird, it's like even though I can't remember, I feel scared of something and for some reason I always have the constant need to watch my back"

Even though they bickered and Eiran always like to tease her, it's like he told Mira she was like his little sister and to Lia he was like an older brother, so he was one of the few who she would share how she's really feeling.

"So that's why you were using your sensing while at the guild" He stated "You didn't used to do that" She nodded "It's okay, Lia. This time you're staying and whatever happened we'll find out about it" Lia nodded but hating the depressed mode she needed to change the subject, so she looked at him with a smirk.

"Never mind that!" Lia told him "Did you confess?" Making him blush red "It's a no then! It's been five years now, and it's obvious you're not past it"

"I am not talking about that!" He told her "Especially not with someone who had never had a boyfriend herself"

"Hey!" She glared angrily while blushing "Not my fault, you know!" She crossed her hands while pouting as he grinned and ruffled her hair "Hey stop it!"

"Not happening, princess" He told her laughing.

"You can at least act your age" She told him when he stopped and she tried to fix her hair. "So what have you been up to in those four years?"

"Just went on jobs" He said shrugging looking out of the window. Lia knew it wasn't as simple as that, Mira had told her this morning when Lia had asked if she knew when Eiran would be back.

 _Flashback_

" _I can't be sure" Mira told the orange head "He's always on going on long jobs, no one can keep track of him and when he does come back, he usually just stays a few days before heading out again"_

" _Why would he…?" Lia wondered to herself, Eiran used to like staying in the guild, no matter how boring it got unlike Lia and Laxus back then he would usually be the one to pull them out of their tendency to keep going on jobs with no breaks._

" _Lia, out of everyone he was the one that looked the most for you" Mira told her with a small smile "He was always looking for information, going after dark guilds and he never gave up hope on finding you. He told me he felt responsible, that he shouldn't have let you go alone, he was your older brother and he should have protected you."_

" _He's really and idiot if he thinks it's his fault…" Lia stated after a few seconds of being quiet, she was smiling sadly to herself_

 _End of flashback_

Eiran felt the weight on his shoulder and turned to find Lia resting her head with closed eyes and smiling after she had gotten up and sat beside him.

"Thanks Eiran" She told him quietly "For never giving up on me" He smiled too.

"Idiot, what else was I supposed to do?" He told her.


	6. Change of plans

The train ride went with them catching up, even though Eiran weren't at the guild often, he made sure to spent some time to watch over it and over everyone in it as much as he could. He didn't want to lose another family member especially after losing Sophia, Lia and Lisanna.

That's why it bugged him that he wasn't here when Phantom attacked or when Laxus lost it.

They finally got off at their station.

"Campanula town…" Lia said as she read the address of the client from the request "He said to ask around town for Mr. Jeffries."

"That's vague…" Eiran stated but Lia walked up to one of the people working at the station.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find Mr. Jeffries?" She asked but the semi attentive man jumped giving her his full attention.

"Master Jeffries, He lives at the mansion on the other side of town…" He told her "Are you sure you wanna go up there?" He asked in whisper as Eiran walked to stand beside Lia.

"Why wouldn't we?" Eiran asked with a raised eyebrow

"Never mind, I didn't say a thing…" The man stated as he walked away.

"Weird…" Eiran stated as Lia nodded "I have a feeling we better be extra careful with the client."

"Agreed…" Lia told him "Let's go"

Lia and Eiran made their outside and they could already spot the mansion, all the way from the station. Although both were on different ends of the town.

The town itself was bustling with people and merchants, it was a popular town on a well-known trade route and being near Fiore's boarder helped. The town was made from brick houses with ebony wood rooftops, with the markets and inns all over. The town was in an open field as well with cobblestone roads.

Eiran and Lia walked through town and made their way to the mansion, noting the bustling and busy atmosphere.

From the outside this house looks grandiose, it has been built with bricks covered in render and has white cedar wooden decorations. Large, triangular windows brighten up the house and have been added to the house in a mostly symmetric way, the building is square shaped with two floors as The roof is low and triangular and is covered with grey ceramic tiles.

Two large chimneys sit at the side of the house. Rows of small windows let in plenty of light to the rooms below the roof. The house itself is surrounded by paved ground, with a small pond at one side and various potted plants all around the house.

They knocked and waited till the door was opened by a butler, "How may I help you?" He asked

"We're Fairy Tail mages that accepted the request made by Mr. Jeffries" Eiran stated with hands in his pockets. The butler nodded before his eyes, slipped towards Lia.

"Miss, I would think it be better you don't talk to the master yourself…" He told her in almost a whisper before coughing "If you follow me, I will show you to the study where Master Jeffries is"

Eiran looked towards Lia, who shook her head knowing the silent question, she was going with him.

They both followed the butler who led them to the second floor, before stopping at a large door and motioned for them to wait, as he knocked and went inside a few seconds later immerging and leading them inside.

At the desk sat a black haired blue eyed man that looked well in his forties, he was seated but upon seeing Lia enter, he stood up with a weird look. He was wearing a fancy expensive brown suit, and his body was fit enough.

"Oh, I wasn't told such a delicate flower could be among the ruffian mages" The man stated as he swopped Lia's hand kissing the back of it "Orson Jeffries at your service"

"Um, Lia Sephiran" She retreated her hands as she introduced.

"Eiran Brack" Eiran stepped forward to stand beside Lia as he stood taller than the man, he wasn't liking the man at all.

"Uh…" Orson stated with disgust, He tried to step closer to Lia as Eiran stepped in front of her shielding her.

Lia hated being shielded like that, but she would accept since she had the feeling this guy would be annoying.

"If you could tell us about this item you wanted retrieved and who you think took it, we'll be on our way to complete our job" Eiran stated

Orson seeing, he had no way of reaching the woman retreated to his desk and sat down on the chair, well by the time the wizards complete the mission…

"It's a family heirloom, a necklace with a red jewel at its end" Orson told them "As to who took it, I know who it is, a bunch of thieves that call themselves The Azure Roses" He snorted as he said the name, while the two mages raised an eyebrow at the name. "That's it, you can go ahead and do the job I am paying you to do" Lia looked at Eiran at this point she would have been trying to hold him from lunging at the man, but Eiran stood calm.

"We'll find that necklace" He stated turning around to leave as Lia started following him.

"Miss Lia!" Orson called "You could stay while that man handles the job, you not need to dirty your hand with imbeciles."

"We'll find that necklace" She repeated before leaving the office.

The butler showed them the way out, while Orson smirked to himself.

"I think I'll put her on the list" He stated quietly

Outside the mansion, Lia and Eiran walked back towards town.

"Pretty mature of you" Lia snorted as she stated.

"Just got used to dealing with cocky guys like him" He shrugged "Still not used to guys hitting on you though" They did end up running to guys like that a few times before, especially with Lia being at dating age back then and Laxus starting to go with jobs with the thunder tribe more, it usually fell to Eiran to stop them.

Lia avoided them and tread carefully with guys like that, they were still the client after all and on every job she representing Fairy Tail.

"You find us a place to stay…" Eiran told her "And I will gather info at the bar" Lia didn't drink, so she wouldn't be able to fit in in a bar. She nodded understanding.

"I will go through the market too" She told him "Might hear something useful, meet here in two hours?" She asked and her nodded, they were standing at cross road. Lia headed right where she saw the busy market on their way, while Eiran headed straight forward.

Eiran had been to Campanula town before, he had escorted a merchant through here, although he hadn't met Jeffries back then since they had stayed here for a night before moving on, it was enough for him to know where the busiest bar is.

The market was full of varied stands from groceries to essentials to cloth and fabrics which immediately had Lia captivated. She was seeing the different cloth styles from foreign countries as well as different fabrics. She decided she would have to go shopping here once they were done with the job and before they headed back to Magnolia.

"Oh dear, should you be out and about at this time?" The elder woman at one of the fabric stands asked her "You wouldn't want to catch that man's eyes" She whispered to her

"Sorry, I am not from around here, could you explain?" Lia asked her, as the woman looked around worriedly.

Eiran entered the bar, which had too many people for it still being sunset. Eiran made his way to the bar, and ordered beer. But the bartender caught sight of the mark on his neck.

"Escorting a cavern?" The bartender asked as he handed him the jug, it was one of the most common reasons that brought mages to their town.

"No, looking for something that was stolen…" Eiran stated "apparently by a group known as the Azure Roses" The bartender froze before narrowing his eyes at Eiran

"You were hired by Jeffries…" The man stated with a growl "That bastard is resorting to mages! Get out of my bar!" Eiran noticed the men who were glaring at him and thought better than to start trouble and got up to leave.

"You came with a woman, right?" One of the men asked him, he recognized him as the guy at the station "and still you're working for Jeffries…"

"I might not like the man, but what did he do that caused this…aggressiveness?" Eiran asked as he looked around.

"You should explain it to him first" A feminine voice said, as a woman with short blonde hair came from upstairs she was wearing a bar maid dress "He's not from around here, he should know what he's getting his friend into if he keeps working for that guy"

The two hours passed, Lia was already there a good deal before the two hours were over, she had found them a room and reserved it and she was just waiting for Eiran.

Although she was leaning with her eyes closed, she had her sensing open and not for just magic particles which was the easiest for her, she was sensing for anything movement or otherwise.

When she sensed Eiran finally, she relaxed a bit but kept her attention on everything.

"You're late!" Lia yelled at him, it was dark and even with it being still not even nine the streets were completely empty.

"It's just a few minutes…" He told her although he seemed tense "Let's go…"

Lia led the way to the inn and the two beds bedroom she reserved without she found out, she had already in advance anticipated how Eiran would react.

Once in the room, Lia checked her surroundings again before sighing and dropping it, sensing for magic was one thing but sensing for as much particles around her as she could, was tiring.

She laid down at one of the two beds, dropping her bag as she stared at the roof.

"Lia, I found some info…" Eiran started

"So did I…" She replied "A slave trader…Damn it!"

"Apparently his specialty is trading in young women" Eiran stated angrily "But with money and connections…"

"…He's been getting away with it" Lia finished

"Apparently, he managed to get his hand on the women who got indebted to him in town" Eiran told her "Or the sisters or wives of some of the indebted men…When he sets his eyes on a woman, he tried to get her"

"Despicable" Lia stated disgusted "I bet you the 'thieves', The Azure Roses. Are someone that decided to stand up to him"

"Not just stand up to him…" Eiran told her "They were started by a few of the slaves he kept, they repelled and started interfering with his business and freeing the women, they were apparently joined later by some of the men from the town"

"I see!" She said as she sat up "Than why hire us to retrieve something? Why not eliminate a group of thieves?"

"I don't know about that…" He told her sighing before looking at her worried, he was the one that picked the mission and now Lia could be in danger…

"Don't give me that look…" Lia told him rolling her eyes "I can take care of myself" She narrowed her eyes in anger "And right now we'll have to stop this guy"

"So what now?" Eiran asked thoughtfully "We find the Azure Roses?"

Lia nodded "We find out what is it exactly he's after…" She turned to Eiran "We'll have to be careful this isn't the type of jobs where we could just punch our way through" Which seemed to be the guild's motto "So we take watch?"

"Yeah…" He agreed but before he could finish she interrupted

"I am taking first one" She told him "No buts" She added when he opened his mouth. Eiran shook his head before his eyes drifted to her bulged bag and frowned.

"Lia, why is your bag about to explode?" He asked her although he had a feeling he knew the answer, Lia froze blushing and looking away.

"Just bought some stuff…" She stated as she tried to hide her bag

"Is some means more fabric than your bag can handle?" He asked her

"It was so pretty" She stated "And it had a good price with high quality, it was a great deal!"

"Of course it was." He mused shaking his head.

The next day, Lia and Eiran left the hotel, they had an objective for now was to find the gang of women. "Eiran…" Lia whispered as they both kept walking through the busy streets, they didn't even look at each other when Lia had called.

"Alright…" He replied quietly, they had considered the fact that they might get followed, which was what Lia sensed ever since they left the hotel. They kept walking, till they reached an empty alley.

Eiran stopped walking but Lia was gone from beside him. Lia appeared behind the person following them, on the roof of the building.

"So show tell us why you were following us?" Lia asked surprising the masked person who turned towards her. "Or we can have this the hard way…" She cracked her knuckles.

The masked person wore a big shirt tucked into combat pants with combat boots. With a mask that covered their entire head showing only their hazel eyes.

The person turned to run but was stopped when crystal rose in his way.

Eiran appeared behind the person, as he climbed using his crystal. "Hard way it is…" The person turned around to face them pulling a knife he ran at Lia.

"Destroy!" She said as she put her hand in front of where the knife was going to hit, causing it the blade to disappear. The person's eyes widened but was even more surprised when crystal appeared around them trapping their body except for the head.

Lia reached for the mask, but someone entered her sensing range at a high speed. She raised her hand into the air, using her destroy spell she stopped the water torrents coming at them.

They both turned to the new foe standing on top of the crystal. A woman with light green hair in a bun with spiky bangs and light blue eyes, she looked young around 18, she was wearing a dark blue tube top with a light blue knee length coat with black mid-thigh shorts, with ankle length black boots.

She glared at the two Fairy Tail mages, before she put her hands in front of her and a blue magic circle appeared. "Water Snake!" She yelled as three torrents of snake shaped water came at the two.

Eiran raised a barrier in front of them. as the water collided with it, Lia teleported behind the girl and aimed a kick, the woman dodged and quickly punched Lia, before twisting Lia's arm and holding her from behind.

The woman held a knife to her neck. "Release my friend" The woman told Eiran "And I release yours"

"They were the one following us" Eiran stated "Why would they do that now?"

The woman growled but faltered when Lia teleported and appeared behind her, as she managed to disarm the woman but the woman was quick to react and sent a kick towards Lia who wasn't fast enough to dodge, so teleported out of the way.

"You're resourceful, I'll give you that" The woman told Lia

"And you're strong, I'll give you that" Lia replied as she held her stomach where she was punched earlier and still stung. "So who are you?"

"Maybe I will tell you if you can defeat me…" She stated running towards Lia.

Eiran whirled around holding the leg of the masked person who had somehow escaped his crystal hold. "Impressive!" He stated "But an illusion wouldn't cut it" He waved his hand breaking the illusion easily to see the person was still captured. "So why not tell me who you guys are?"

Lia dodged another punch, she didn't even have enough time to gather her magic to use one of her offensive spells.

She and Eiran had agreed beforehand to be careful not to fight together unless the situation called for it. After all, if this guys were actually from the Azure Roses, they wanted to gain their trust.

"Are you from the Azure Roses?" Lia asked as she teleported again to stand on Eiran's crystal wall.

The woman didn't answer, instead waved her hands. "Water cutter" A small fast beam of water came at Lia who teleported out of the way, while the water beam cut through the crystal wall dividing it.

"Releasing water with high pressure, huh?" Lia stated as sweated, after all the woman was pretty good with close combat and her magic skills weren't bad if she managed to cut through Eiran's crystal. Lia noticed where the beam was heading now. "Eiran!" She called "Get out of the way!"

Eiran looked towards Lia and jumped as the water beam came at where he was standing before. The woman directed the beam and cut through Eiran's crystal that was surrounding her friend.

The masked person ran towards her as Eiran landed, "Water Tsunami!" The woman yelled as a big wave of water hit them, Lia teleported to another roof while Eiran put up a barrier.

As the water finally flowed off the roof, the two people were gone.

Lia sighed before appearing beside Eiran. "So…" Lia started as Eiran grinned

"Well plan B is on the way" He confirmed as e held the small crystal in his hand.

Somewhere underground, the two people from earlier walked side by side while the green haired woman had her hands crossed and an angry scowl on her face.

"What were you thinking?" The woman yelled "Going after the two mages by yourself!"

"I am sorry, Anise!" The masked person apologized "I just thought I would gather some information on our new enemies"

"It's still dangerous, going against mages with no magic is suicide" Anise reprimanded before sighing "Elsa you know what they would have did if they realized who you were…they work for him after all…"

"I do know little magic…" Elsa muttered

Elsa nodded as she removed her mask feeling suffocated underground, Elsa had silver eyes with purple hair in a braid with bangs swept to the side, she looked about 18, she ruffled her bangs to settle them down after being trapped in the mask.

"Let's just go back" Anise told her as they both continued walking.

A few hours later, both Lia and Eiran walked following the crystal Eiran held, it was one of his spells it was used for tracking, two twin crystals that would point to each other no matter the distance. He managed to plant one on the masked person and they were both following it.

They were hoping it would lead them to who they thought belonged to the Azure Roses, on the other hand if they were wrong and this person worked for Jeffries who had hoped to capture Lia, then it might give them a chance to gather enough evidence to take the guy down.

They had long left the town and were walking further into the nearest forest. "So what are we doing exactly when we find them?" Eiran asked the orange head "They didn't seem so keen on talking earlier…"

"We'll figure it out…" Lia shrugged making Eiran sweat drop, Lia as he remembered was always like that a we'll just wing it attitude but her mind was strategizing for different scenarios.

They stopped, when the crystal that was previously lying in the palm of his hand was now standing up.

"That means…" Eiran started as he looked at the ground under his feet.

"…An underground hideout" Lia finished as she stretched her senses "They're there, a large group of people. We just need to find the entrance."

"Won't be that easy!" Eiran told her as Lia though gave him a smirk he knew "So what's the plan?"


	7. Take him down!

Meanwhile underground, tunnels with a number of opening were around, women and men walked and talked around although mostly there were women. It was a made up living quarter for the slaves that was saved by the gang, but with Jeffries still out there they couldn't just go back to their normal lives. So even if they didn't want to fight, for now they had to live here.

"Boss! Boss!" Someone yelled running through the tunnels till he found the green head he was looking for standing talking with Elsa "Boss!"

He ran up to her, he was one of the younger boys who had joined after his older sister, Elsa was taken but saved by the gang later. He had the same purple hair but in short bowl cut with green eyes instead of silver, he was almost 15.

"Calm down, Jasion" Elsa told him as he shook his head

"And don't call me boss!" Anise told him "Now what happened?"

"Mages…in…the forest" He told her between breaths "They were cutting some trees, so when we one of the scouts went to check what was going on he saw them…"

Anise's eyes widened, could they have found their hideout?

"I am going to check it out, tell everyone to hide in the escape tunnel just in case!" Anise ordered Jasion who nodded as he headed right away to do his job "Tell Venus and Farina to meet me at the gate!" She said to Elsa who nodded.

At the gate leading upwards Anise was biting her nail, how would she deal if the mages had already told Jeffries where to find them.

"Anan, you called for me?" Asked a 12-year-old who appeared, she had blonde curly hair with blue eyes, she wore a purple frilly sleeveless dress, with black flats and a black beret.

"We're just waiting for, Farina and I will tell you both" Anise told the young girl. Venus was a girl that had lost her mother because of Jeffries, with the magic potential she had, she insisted on joining them.

"I am here…" Farina stated emotionlessly, she was a 23-year-old woman, she had red shoulder length hair that she pulled back into a short ponytail, with black eyes, she wore a black turtle neck sleeveless top with black baggy pants and black flats.

Farina was one of the slaves that started Azure Roses, and the third mage in the gang.

"Jeffries had hired two mages…" Anise told them causing Venus to frown "They were spotted in the forest causing commotion. We'll have to handle them!"

"Understood" Farina stated

"Got it Anan!" Venus cheered.

The sun was setting as Lia and Eiran now stood in a field with destroyed trees. "You really think this would work?" He asked as he looked around them.

"Yeah with how many people I sensed down there, the leader would make sure that he deals with the problem, while…like I am sensing right now, the others hide" Lia explained before she sensed the three mages enter her senses "Three people are coming, one was that woman from earlier"

The three females walked into the destroyed area led by Anise. "What do you two think you're doing here?" Anise asked with narrowed eyes.

"We just want to talk" Lia stated

"We have nothing to talk about with people who work for Jeffries!" Anise yelled as she ran at the orange head. "I will handle her; you handle the guy"

"Alright Anan" Venus cheered as she used her magic and a violin and its bow formed in her hands.

"Understood" Farina stated as stomped her leg on the ground and an earth wall rose separating the two Fairy Tail mages.

"We really didn't come to fight!" Eiran stated frowning as he faced the woman and the little girl. "We want to help"

"If you work for that man, I can't see how you would want to help" Farina stated as rocks flew around her before they were thrown at him as he dodged.

"We can't have you telling him where our hideout is" Venus told him as she played a fast beat on her violin. Vines grew from the ground and started trying to wrap around him, but he crystalized them.

"Stopping them without hurting them isn't going to be easy" Eiran murmured to himself

On the other side of the earth wall, Lia teleported away to avoid another punch. "Water Snake!" Anise waved her hand releasing the water snake shaped torrents, Lia raised her hand and used her destroy spell to counter.

"Why is it so hard to believe that we're not going to follow that guy?" Lia yelled at the green haired woman.

"Why would you go out of your way to help others?" Anise yelled back as she tried to punch Lia who kept dodging since she had used her Celero spell on herself earlier. "Your guild mages, you work for money which that guy can easily give"

"You've got the wrong idea about us, if you really think we would do anything for money" Lia told her before teleporting "Body enchant: Robur!" Lia cast the enchantment to increase her strength. "Body enchant: Defendo!" And another for Defense "We do do jobs for money, but if we won't do anything for money, we help when we can and that's what we want to do here"

"Spare me the talk!" Anise yelled as she aimed a punch at Lia "Trying to trick us won't work!" Lia didn't dodge she blocked the punch by crossing her arms.

"If beating is what takes to get you to listen than I will just have to do it" Lia told her "Magic missile: Fire!" The balls of fire formed around her and flew at Anise, who jumped back avoiding them.

"Water garden" Anise yelled as two water walls rose beside Lia and multiple water beams came at her from the two sides.

She teleported away "Explosion!" The explosion occurred around Anise who rose a water dome around her to protect herself.

Meanwhile, Eiran dodged another earth beam made by Farina while moving out of the way of magma created by Venus who kept changing the music she was playing to use different elements.

All Eiran had been doing was dodge the attacks, which was making Venus frustrated, while Farina narrowed her eyes at the fact he was toying with them.

"Is the fact that I haven't fought back so far helping convince you?" Eiran asked standing with his hands in his pockets.

"Hold still would you!" Venus yelled at him stomping her feats

"No" Farina replied to his question causing him to sigh as he got his hands out of his pocket.

"You leave me with no choice" Eiran told them, as he ran towards them. Farina rose her hands and two giant rocks rose from the earth and headed for him, which he easily dodged out of the way. Venus started playing again and holes started appearing where he was standing and as he jumped they appeared where he landed. He kept jumping to avoid them.

He appeared in front of Venus who shrieked. "Crystal shackles!" He said as shackled wrapped around her hands and legs.

"Venus!" Farina called to the little girl when Eiran turned towards the red head

"Crystal prison!" He stated as Farina found her body encased in crystal and she couldn't move.

"Will you listen now?" Eiran asked the two females, while the younger one glared at him and blew a raspberry, Farina just narrowed her eyes while thinking.

He had beaten both of them in a matter of seconds, he could if he wanted try and force them to talk, but he was still asking.

"Not like we have a choice…" Farina told him

"Actually you do" Eiran told the older woman "We could very well try and face that guy on our own, but it would be easier if we worked together. We do want to help, even if we came here on his request, doesn't mean we would just follow blindly someone who's like him"

"And why would you exactly believe easily some info that you picked up somewhere?" Farina asked "It could be easily fabricated, couldn't it?"

"It could…" Eiran mused "But we talked to the guy, and we saw the people around town and how they were acting. It was easy to tell it wasn't a lie."

Farina was thoughtful as she carefully observed the blue haired guy.

Lia and Anise exchanged blows, they were both getting tired but they weren't letting up. Lia teleported back to catch her breath and Anise stood catching hers.

The earth wall started to Anise was surprised when she saw the earth wall was getting down, Lia had sensed Eiran stopping the two he probably managed to talk to the two and get them to listen.

Farina and Venus both stood beside Eiran, the three of them looked at the two woman fighting. "What are you two…" Anise trailed off seeing her two comrades standing right beside their enemy.

"Farina says we should listen to them" Venus told her "Beside he does have a point"

"Just listen to them, Anise." Farina told her

Eiran walked towards Lia who sat on the ground catching her breath as she looked at the night sky, he raised his eyebrow in question.

"She's real stubborn" Lia breathed "At least you got her friends to listen…"

"Wasn't easy." He told Lia holding a hand to her, which she took and he helped her up.

"Fine!" Anise called "I will listen to what you have to say"

Lia smiled while Eiran sighed. "First, we haven't been introduced, I am Lia Sephiran and this is Eiran Brack" Lia introduced them.

"Anise Vandran, leader of the Azure Roses" Anise introduced herself

"Farina" Farina stated simply

"I am Venus Norwood" Venus introduced with a grin.

They sat down and talked with Anise, they told her that when the moment they found out who Jeffries was they decided they wouldn't work for him and would try and help stop him. They also told her about why he actually hired them.

"A necklace with a red jewel?!" Anise asked them frowning "So he…"

"Anise you know what that is?" Farina asked as Anise nodded, before looking at the two mages thoughtfully.

"I don't completely trust you, but…" Anise stated "we'll accept your help"

Anise stood up followed by the others. "Let's head back" Anise told them "You two come too" She then remembered something and turned to the two "How did you know you would find us here?"

 **Year x774**

Sophia stared at her 11 years old daughter thoughtfully as they were in the clearing in the forest. While Sophia stood with a hand on her hip, Lia sat cross legged meditating as usual before the start of their training session.

It has been two years since Lia joined Fairy Tail, three since she was able to use magic and just a few weeks since that incident. Sophia had admitted that since that incident she was even more worried about the young girl and had opted to staying home more.

Lia though was more determined to train and get stronger, though with what happened it was either to get shaken up and run or to fight back and get stronger. Lia followed the advice her mother had told her when she was six and kept going.

"Lia…" Sophia called softly as Lia breathed and opened her eyes, thinking her mother thought this was enough for this morning meditation "I asked you before but I want to know…Why do you want to be a mage? Why do you want to use magic?"

 **Year x784**

They were in one of the underground rooms, which they found out the entire place was created by Farina.

The room had a few chairs and a large table in the middle with a large map hanging on the wall behind them.

The people living here were returned from the escape tunnel and were going about their normal duties, while gathered in the current room, were the two Fairy Tail mages, the three Azure Roses mages, and Elsa who got the crystal out from her pocket surprised to even find it there.

"Pretty!" Venus stated staring at the blueish crystal

"Nice trick!" Anise stated "Could be helpful…if you really plan to help us in the long run"

"In the long run there won't be anything to help with" Lia told them confusing them "Right now we have an opening that we could use to finish that guy once and for all" Anise exchanged looks with her comrades "I don't know if you heard but the magic council was recently dissolved and a reformation is being run through the entire system"

"I heard about it…" Farina confirmed

"…but what does it have to with us?" Anise asked crossing her hands

"The reason Jeffries has been getting away with anything is through connections, or most likely he's been paying the right people" Lia explained "Right now, if you find the evidence about who's getting paid to cover for him, you would have stopped his only cover" Their eyes widened "Just tell me what you know, and together we'll take care of this guy once and for all in the next few days"

"We've been trying to finish him for years…" Elsa trailed off

"And we lost so many people…" Venus said quietly remembering her mother, her mother despite not being a mage was one of the three that started the Azure Roses but she died one time when they tried to help stop one of Jeffries caravans, that was about two years ago when Venus unlocked her magic potential.

"You're saying you can finish this in a few days?" Anise asked again to make sure they heard right. Lia smirked as Eiran sighed, Jeffries was going to regret the day he sent the request to Fairy Tail and it ended up with Lia being one of the people accepting it.

Anise briefed Eiran and Lia on what they knew, especially the fact the time of the next, especially the fact the time of the next shipment of slaves which was in two days. Along with the fact, Jeffries did have a mage that worked for him, he was strong that they couldn't beat him with the three of them, but they always kept him busy while the other freed the slaves.

"And the necklace?" Lia asked at the end as Anise frowned before she turned to Elsa who was still here.

"Elsa, can you show them the necklace you have?" Anise asked as Elsa got the necklace that was hiding under her cloth as it hung around her neck. "It was something owned by Elsa's family"

"Here" She took it off giving it to Lia although she was a bit reluctant. "It's the only reason I managed to use that illusion magic even though you broke from it"

Eiran looked at the necklace in Lia's hand with a frown, it didn't look anything special it had a silver chain and at the end hung the oval shaped red jewel. Lia's eyes widened at it though.

"It's a type of charm magic, it controls the mind and it busies it with illusions so they don't even realize they're being controlled" Lia told them as she sensed the magic in it, she had researched charm magic so long ago for the sake of her enchantments "Although the magic in isn't very strong, it can be broken easily by someone with a strong mind or strong magic, but on a normal human they would be easily controlled"

"So why would he want it?" Venus asked confused as Anise understood she gave Elsa a look.

"Come on Venus" She ushered the little girl out "It's time to get to bed"

"But…" Venus tried to object but was stopped by Elsa, once the two of them disappeared Anise glared at the wall angrily, while Farina composed herself although she was angry as well.

"He wants to take them back" Eiran stated the thing they all realized as Lia reached into her bag and pulled her notebook taking a page out of it.

"Like hell he will!" Anise shouted punching the table

"Actually it is going to be helpful" Lia told them as she held the necklace in a hand and the paper in the other, she concentrated her magic on the paper "So here's the plan"

It was the noon of the next day as Lia and Eiran walked up to the mansion and knocked on the door, it was opened by the same butler who was surprised to see them again before composing himself.

"Mission complete" Lia told him "So we're here to deliver it" He led the two of them to the same office

"Uh, you're back already?" Orson Jeffries started at them with a satisfied smile and as Lia held the necklace for him to see "Good job!" He could almost see his goal and his trouble disappearing.

Eiran stood in the back while Lia walked forward handing the necklace to him, Jeffries turned the necklace in his hand. "Well, let's see if it works" He stated as he turned with a smirk to the two mages.

"You're okay with this?" Lia asked the butler as she and Elsa both watched the now lost in the dream world Jeffries. Elsa had used the magic of the necklace on herself to trick people into thinking she was Eiran, before now using it on Jeffries.

"If your aim is to stop him, I will gladly help" The butler told them he had introduced himself as Faolan.

"Just watch him as we search for it" Lia told him as she and Elsa started searching the office. Before Elsa found the safe in hidden compartment behind a bookcase.

"Lia!" She called as Lia walked to her with a satisfied smirk

Meanwhile, near the border of Fiore and Bosco.

"So that's where the next shipment is passing?" Eiran stated as he surveyed the area, it was a route between the mountains, a distance from the town.

"Ah" Anise confirmed "According to our spies…It doesn't offer much place to hide" They were on top of the mountain itself as they watched the route, it was the only place to hide but it was too high up to make a point of attack.

"We don't where the slaves are kept so our only chance of saving them is here" Farina added

Back in the mansion, Lia and 'Eiran' stood facing a confused Orson.

"Why didn't it work?" He muttered before looking angrily towards the two "This isn't the necklace!"

"It fits the description" Lia told him crossing her hands

"It can't be it! The real necklace…" He froze and coughed composing himself "Fine, I do have another request and I will pay you a million jewel"

Lia raised an eyebrow.

"If you got this you must have found the hideout of that band of thieves" He stated "I want you to get rid of them"

"So you want us to capture them and hand them to the rune knights?" Lia asked

"No, get rid of them" He told her as Lia frowned

"You realize what you're asking?" She asked him "Sorry old man, Fairy Tail doesn't accept killing requests."

"I am not really asking here" He gave them a threatening look and smirked "If it's not money than how about doing it to protect your guild"

Lia narrowed her eyes. "Why not hire a dark guild to do your bidding?" She asked with disgust

"Well for one a dark guild would be too much trouble" He told her "If they decided they didn't get enough money, I would have to just pay more, you can't really control them. Unlike official guilds who are…on leach if you say" Lia clenched her fists by her side.

"I know the right people" He told her "And your guild is on the radar for being destructive, if you want it to stay open, you will do as I say"

Lia looked down as her bangs covered her eyes, before she turned away.

"I will do anything to protect my guild" She stated as she walked away followed by 'Eiran'.

Once they had left town and headed into the forest, Lia aimed a punch at a tree with magic. The tree fill to the ground shattered.

Elsa shrieked as she stared at Lia who breathed hard.

"What happened?" Eiran asked as he and the two other females walked into the meeting point.

"We found the book and Lia made a copy but…" Elsa told them before retelling what Jeffries had asked of them, a dark look overcame Eiran's face.

"He actually threatened Fairy Tail!" Eiran had a very dark look and as Lia looked up and they saw her face to see the same look.

"He just garneted his demise" They both stated at the same time making the three women shudder.

They headed back to the hideout, Lia and Eiran calmed themselves down as they got ready for tomorrow, Elsa had already with Anise to do their part.

Lia and Eiran walked through the halls of people, she saw despite everything they were smiling as they talked and even the few children here were playing carefree. They stopped and watched it.

"This alone makes me want to help even more" Lia stated to Eiran quietly

"I already had my mind set the moment he flirted with you" He told her with a chuckle as she shook her head. "Do you think it was luck of the draw?"

"To us or them?" She asked "One thing I know most Fairy Tail members would have helped them…although they would have used the more direct method"

"They would have punched their way through" Eiran snorted as Lia chuckled. Farina walked up to them.

Farina walked up to them, there was something that confused her and she really wanted to know. Venus was peeking from one of the rooms.

"I want to know why you're helping us?" Farina asked them "We can't give you money, your family weren't harmed in this, you have no reason to involve yourself" Farina was frowning, there was one thing she learned in those last few years. "Nothing in this world is free, and no one wants to get involved in something that doesn't concern them. So why help?"

Lia and Eiran smiled, Eiran even more had asked himself when he was younger that question. So he knew the answer Lia was going to give, it was the same one Sophia had given him years back as well as Lia even if the wording was different.

"If you have a light that can guide someone, you let it shine or you both will be lost if you dim it" Eiran stated

"And because we don't want to live alone, we want to live with everyone" Lia added making Farina frown in thought as Venus thought about the words as well.

The next day, in the mountain pass.

It was silent except for the moving carriages, that had the cage filled with people. Around it was a bunch of heavily guarded men.

Jeffries was in a coach at the back, he would just go to Bosco with how much money he had he could easily set up base somewhere else, away from that annoying gang. And for now the Fairy Tail mages would be distracting them.

The coach pulled to a stop though he looked out of the window to see what happened. He noticed how confused the men he had hired were.

"What the hell happened?" He barked at them

"There's a crystal wall up ahead" One of the men informed him.

"Then just break it down!" Jeffries barked back

"Let's put it like this" A feminine voice said from inside the carriage he turned with a shocked look to find Lia sitting there cross legged "Unless you have a mage in your midst, you have no chance of breaking that wall"

Jeffries smirked.

"And don't depend on that one mage" Lia told him as he frowned "Eiran properly finished him already"

A shout came from outside about an attack. Eiran stood beside a mage who was completely trapped in crystal, before he turned with a glare towards the rest of the men.

"That would be Eiran" She confirmed with a nod before turning a glare towards the man sitting across from her "You really thought you would get away with all of this and…" She had a dark look "threatening Fairy Tail?"

"So what? you're going to beat me?" He asked even though he was afraid from the look she was giving him "I have the rune knights in my pocket, you can't…"

"Correction you had…" She stated "My new friends from the Azure roses are properly already on their way here with the rune knights" She smirked "Atherton, Ward, Draigh…etc. right?"

Back in the council building were rune knight going around capturing people, with the list sent to them, that showed the names on Jeffries payrolls.

"This handles the situation with the town" She added "Now let's handle the fact you threatened Fairy Tail, shall we?"

Eiran kept crystalizing the men who couldn't manage to break the crystal, with the mage handled the others weren't even a problem. Farina and Venus frowned as they stared at how Eiran was easily handling them.

Before an explosion happened up ahead, causing them to frown as they heard a scream.

"I really wanted to pay that guy for threatening Fairy Tail" Eiran grumbled as the two women sweat dropped.

Anise and Elsa arrived with the Rune knights led by the captain of the 4th enforcement and detention corps., Lahar.

They all stopped when they saw the tied up men, but froze when at the head was the completely battered unconscious Orson Jeffries.

"Took you long enough" Lia stated as she stood with the others, helping the people who were in the cages.

"We had them tied up hours ago" Eiran added

They were questioned by the council for a few hours and so were the people from the town and the Azure roses, when they had finished collecting all the information they led Jeffries along with his men to prison.

The town celebrated all night and finally the people that have been living in the tunnels rejoiced as they joined the celebration. They were finally free from that man.

"So what are you going to do now?" Lia asked Anise as she stood to the side, she looked towards the celebration.

"Elsa said she was going to settle back into town with her brother, Farina is thinking about traveling around, and Venus is too caught up in the celebration to think about it" Anise told her "I am not so sure myself." She turned to face Lia "How did you do it? We've been going against the guy for two years now and all we did was slow him down"

Lia shrugged, as she looked towards the party, Eiran was surrounded by fangirls causing her to chuckle.

Anise didn't know what to make of this, was it luck? Or skill? Or what?

"Is being in a guild fun?" Anise asked the orange head, who turned to her. "Let's face it a quiet life is definitely not for me"

"Are you thinking about joining Fairy Tail?" Lia asked the woman who shook her head

"No, my family used to live in another town before they moved here" Anise told her "There was a magic guild there, I think I might join them" Lia smiled.

"Being in a guild is…" Lia started as she turned towards the younger woman with a big grin "Fun!"

Anise smiled as she decided to watch for the new life awaiting her. Unknown to them another person had overheard their conversation.

The next day, Lia and Eiran said their goodbyes as they rode the train heading back to Magnolia.

A certain blonde little girl though hadn't shown up though.

The train hadn't moved yet as Lia and Eiran sat opposite to each other.

"I think we made record with this" Eiran stated with a snort as Lia looked confused "A mission where Fairy Tail didn't destroy anything" Lia chuckled too before she sensed someone on the train, she looked towards through the window as the said blonde climbed abroad.

"What's wrong?" Eiran asked

"Venus just climbed abroad" Lia told him as the said blonde peeked into their car before noticing them she ran towards them dragging a bag behind her.

"I want to join Fairy Tail" She told them with a grin.


	8. A new mission

Lia and Eiran were at the guild and beside them was the little girl who had the entire guild focused on her.

"This is Venus Norwood" Lia introduced the little girl to the guild as she grinned at them, she was in a frilly dress but with a different style, she seemed to have a thing for those dresses. "She wants to join the guild" Makarov had an eyebrow raised.

"I saw her magic myself" Eiran stated neglecting the fact he fought against her "She has potential"

"It's nice meeting all of you!" Venus cheered

"Alright, Welcome to the guild child" Makarov welcomed her as the entire guild swarmed around her asking questions. Lia and Eiran walked towards the bar where Makarov was.

"So what happened on the job?" Mira asked them

"And who's Venus?" Makarov added, as Erza walked over wanting to ask the same thing.

Lia and Eiran sighed before they retold everything that happened.

"That's quite the job" Erza stated "You handled it well"

"I agree, good job" Makarov told them

"I take it you won't be going on a job for a while?" Mira asked with a giggle as the two mages nodded.

Meanwhile, Venus turned towards Happy with a giggle she was enjoying the little flying cat, to be honest she was enjoying the guild, everyone was nice as they talked to her.

Mira walked up to the little girl. "My name's Mirajane, it's nice to meet you Venus"

"You're the Mirajane?!" Venus cheered as she remembered seeing the woman on the cover of some of the magazines "You're so pretty!"

"Thank you!" Mira told her "You're pretty cute yourself!" Venus blushed "So I heard from Lia that you use Music magic?"

"Yup" She replied "My mom was the one to teach me the violin, I guess my magic came around that. Want to hear?"

"Sure!" Mira told the girl who excitedly made a magic violin in her hand, she breathed before she started playing a soft tune that silenced everyone as they enjoyed the quiet music. The fact she was using magic while playing made the air around them glitter slightly as well.

When she played the final tune and her violin disappeared, the entire guild clapped for her and whistled as she looked around happily.

"That was really beautiful" Lucy stated as others agreed. Venus grinned happily.

Venus ended up going with Lia home that night, the older woman had offered for her to stay with Lia for as long as she felt like it.

The next day, Lucy sat at the bar before Eiran joined her as he took a drink from Mira and turned around when he noticed what Natsu was doing, Natsu was dancing in background.

"Natsu is as lively as ever" He said chuckling, He noticed the blonde beside him. "Lucy right?"

"Yeah" Lucy said sitting up suddenly

"Eiran Brack" He introduced himself "I heard a lot about you" yesterday he talked to some of the new members like Gajeel and Juvia and talked with the other but didn't get the chance to meet Lucy till now.

"Pleases don't believe everything you hear" She told him sadly.

"Then don't believe everything you heard about me either" He told her chuckling, as he finished his drink "The guild is missing a certain womanizer, is Loke away on a mission Mira?"

"Did I forgot to mention it?" Mira asked confused

"Loke turned out to be a celestial spirit" Lucy told him as she showed him the key "He went back to the spirit realm; I can summon him if you want?"

Eiran shook his head "It's okay, I was just checking" He told her "After going away for two months and then on that job just wanted to make sure" He stood up "I have to go buy a few things from town, so see you around" He walked away.

"Eiran has been in the guild for so long that he always tries to watch over everyone" Mira explained to the blonde. "Especially more after losing his closest family, even if Lia is back now"

"He and Lia are related?" Lucy asked

"No, they were raised together after Lia's mother adopted him when he was six" Mira told her, as Venus was at the request board looking at all the jobs, Lia had explained how guilds worked to her yesterday. She had also told her it was better if she went with someone for jobs in the beginning.

Levy walked towards the younger girl. "Want to come with us on a job Venus?" She had met the girl yesterday like most of the guild.

"yes, Please!" Venus asked her excited as bluenette chuckled at her cheerful attitude.

The next day, Eiran showed early that morning and had dragged Lia and Venus to an ice-cream pallor in town, before they ended sitting at the park eating the ice-cream. Lia was enjoying a Vanilla chocolate one, Venus a strawberry one while Eiran was having a mint chocolate chip one.

They showed the younger girl around town, and she immediately fell in love with the music instrument shop in town.

Three days later, Lia was at home, reading in the library. The library covered the entire basement, which wasn't a small space, it was filled with too many books that the shelves weren't enough and some had to be piled on the floor and on the table in the middle of the room. The number of books here were thanks to Lia's grandfather and great grandfather both were writers and avid readers although that trait seems to have skipped a generation with Lia's mother Sophia, but Lia blamed it more on her childhood more than genetics.

Lia sat at the table, with books spread in front of her and a note book and a pencil in her hand.

"I will have to catch up on what I should have learned during the four years" Lia told herself as she stopped reading with a sigh, her hand reached for her lower back "If things had gone right, I would have gotten rid of it three years ago" She sighed "At least what ever happened in the four years, I must have trained my magic a bit." She said referring to the fact her control had increased from what she remembered, even still she had a long way to go. "But physically…" She remembered how she was barely holding against Anise and sweat dropped.

Eiran was in the guild at the bar eating and enjoying the strange quietness around the guild. It was around noon; when the guild was usually loud. Venus was away on a mission with team shadow gear.

"Lia hadn't shown up lately" Mira stated worriedly.

"Don't worry, she said she would be studying and training a bit" He informed her "especially was the fact she had so little time before the S-rank exam."

"She's actually aiming for it this year?" Mira asked, Lia usually ended up as someone's partner, she never seemed interested herself.

"Not getting left behind she said when I asked her" He told Mira. "So any word from Gildarts?"

"Nope, let's hope that he's okay" Mira stated as she took the empty plate from in front of him.

"Hey, did you hear about what's going on in Acalypha?" Macao asked Wakaba behind Eiran at the closest table to the bar.

"Some trade guild is being held up by a group of armed robbers" Wakaba stated "Damn…"

"And that armed group is actually the dark guild, Naked Mummy" Macao informed them

"Seriously? Then the army ain't gonna be able to handle them…" Wakaba said.

"Lately, the number of Dark guild incidents has increased a lot." Mira stated sadly.

"And a lot of them are more desperate than usual for money" Eiran added

"Dangerous…" Macao said

They were surprised when Lucy came to their table, asking for Acalypha's location urgently. Before running off.

It was a few minutes later that Erza, Gray and Natsu came towards them asking if they had seen Lucy and when they told them where she had gone and what was happening there they went running after her.

"She's been here for a short while and already have them worrying about her" Eiran stated chuckling

"They have been through a lot together" Mira told him.

"But she did manage to pull those three on a team together somehow" Eiran chuckled as he stated.

Of course the quietness and the peace, didn't last long with the guild, somehow Fairy Tail were a magnet for trouble.

A week later, they were in the guild discussing the dark guild, although Lia still hadn't come, Venus had, the little girl was shocked about how Lia had managed to lock herself in the library.

Reedus had drawn a chart showing the dark guilds structure, using a light pen.

"Whats this?" Lucy asked as she looked at the chart.

"It's an organization chart of dark guilds." Mira explained

"Yes, I drew it" Reedus stated

"When you look at it overall, there are quite a lot of them." Cana stated.

"Believe it or not, they are actually less than how they were a few years ago" Eiran informed her

Venus frowned she was somewhat new to the guild world, but it was obvious from how serious everyone was, that it wasn't good.

"Why did you draw it?" Lucy asked

"Because lately it seems like their activity has increased" Mira told her looking serious.

"The number of attacks and robberies by dark guilds has increased to the point they're getting slobby" Eiran stated hands in his pocket "Something is going on we don't know about"

"That's why we have to strengthen the bonds between guilds" Mira told them

"What's the big oval?" Gray asked

"Juvia knows. It is the Balam alliance." Juvia stated. "The Balam alliance is the most powerful force of dark guilds, combining the three guilds of Oracion Seis, Tartaros and Grimoire Heart"

"It was started by the three guilds but…" Eiran stated taking the pen from Reedus and writing a fourth name "Recently a new guild had apparently joined it, Eptá Amartíes. I found about them recently on my mission, not much is known about them except they originated a few years back and only recently managed to climb in power to be even considered to join the alliance. They have the fewest number of associate guilds"

"The guilds have associate guilds" Lia stated from behind as she joined them entered the guild "That's how they control the world of dark guilds" She had taken the morning to freshen up and decided to take a break from studying.

She reached Venus and patted the younger girl's head.

"There's also Independent guilds, like Raven Tail" Juvia finished although both Lia and Eiran frowned at the mention of that guild.

"Huh?" Lucy startled "Eisenwald?"

"Yes. That's the guild that Erigoar was in" Erza told her.

"So that was one of the guilds associated with Oracion Seis, huh?" Gray stated

"There's a lot of names that I remember up there…" Wakaba said

"Aren't there some that used to be official guilds, too?" asked Macao

"Ghoul Spirits, the one that the thunder tripe destroyed, was also one of them" Mira told them, the said team had gone a mission now that their punishment was up.

"Bannerskulls, the one I dealt with recently too" Eiran stated

"And the guilds Juvia and Gajeel destroyed when we were in Phantom were all from Oracion Seis!" Juvia stated cheerfully

"Please, don't go smiling about it…" Gray told the bluenette.

"But she did beat the evil guys" Venus stated

"Uh-oh… I hope they're not angry…" Lucy said shaking in fear.

"Don't worry about it Lucy" Lia told her "In the dark guilds, it survival of the fittest, so to them if a guild gets taken out it means they were too weak, they wouldn't bother to retaliate for them"

Lia was frowning and had a serious look staring at the chart, somehow Eptá Amartíes seemed familiar to her, which made her wonder a little.

"I also hear from the rumors; they've only got six members!" Wakaba assured the blonde making her relieved.

"Damn, how small a guild is it?" Macao asked

"You shouldn't underestimate them, they're still part of the alliance, even with small numbers they're still strong" Eiran told them

"And don't forget we have a team of five mages and somehow they end up destroying towns on each mission" Lia stated jokingly as the said team protested.

"About Oracion Seis…" Makarov started as he entered the guild "We're going to attack them." All of them were shocked at the declaration, and they went silent for a few moments.

"Welcome back, Master!" Mira greeted cheerfully making all of them hit the ground "How was the regular meeting?"

"Way to miss the point" Lucy told the white haired girl as she stood up.

"Read the mood, Mira" Lia told her standing up as well.

"Master, what are you talking about?" Erza asked

"At the regular meeting the other day, we discussed the recent activity by Oracion Seis." Master explained "As it is not something we can ignore, we decided that some guild has to fight them."

"You pulled the short straw again, Gramps?" Gray asked

"And Fairy Tail will take on that role?" Juvia added

"No…The enemy this time is too powerful" He told them "If it were only us, then afterwards the Balam alliance would retaliate only here. And that is why we have formed an alliance ourselves."

Natsu's team ended up being the one sent to represent Fairy Tail in this allied job. On the other hand, Juvia, Gajeel, Lia and Eiran were sent on another mission.

They all sat on the train headed towards the nearest town to the area they were heading to.

"I wanted to go with Gray" Juvia complained as she sat across from Lia.

"Think of it this way, Gray is going to be doing his best so you should do the same so you can see each other soon" Lia told the love struck woman.

"This going to be annoying, handling one of the lower guilds instead of going after a strong one" Gajeel stated as he sat beside Juvia.

"If they really were like that, Master wouldn't have sent the four of us to handle it" Eiran stated "Don't forget what he said?"

They turned silent.

 _Flashback_

" _The four of us?" Lia wondered as Master, after saying that team Natsu would be handling Oracion Seis, had told them he had another mission for them._

" _Yes, another dark guild has been wreaking havoc to the west, three villages had died so far" He informed them making them freeze "And a fourth one is in the danger now, Lilac village. Apparently most of the guild is nothing to worry about except…apparently they have a demon in their midst"_

 _End of flashback._

"It's going to be okay" Lia said "Like I said to Juvia, if the others are doing their best we can slack behind" The train started to move. "I do have a question, is Cait shelter a new guild? I haven't heard of them before"

"Come to think of it…I haven't either" Eiran stated

"Juvia too" Juvia said

"Haven't heard of them!" Gajeel as Lia blinked at him as he leaned against the window.

"You don't have motion sickness?" Lia asked him as he raised an eyebrow

"Why would you think I have?" He asked back

"Don't all Dragon slayers have it?" She asked confused, she knew two slayers that always got motion sickness

"It's just the salamander" He stated and she decided to keep quiet about a certain blonde as she pulled a book from her messenger bag. She was wearing Red sleeveless tank top, Brown jean shorts that reached mid-thigh, with black tights under and black boots that reached mid-calf. She also had her hair in a high ponytail.

"Reading again, huh?" Eiran asked her "So you did find something interesting?"

"I am researching for a new spell I have in mind" Lia told him

"You use Particle magic, right?" Juvia asked her "If you don't mind Juvia asking but how does it work?"

"Well simply put, everything around us is formed of particles with bonds between them and different reactions they take their respective shape and do their respective functions, my magic allows me to control those particles and use them as I see fit, maybe change their shape, function, or even structure to change them to another thing" Lia explained to the interested Juvia, even Gajeel was listening although he act unlike it staring through the train window. Eiran though already knew all about it.

"Of course that's in theory, I can't just control everything, the magic uses too much magical energy it's difficult to really be able to control, although the magical cost decreases with how focused and in control you can be. So even though I don't have the magical reserve for most spells…" Eiran frowned as he remembered the reason for that "I try to work on my focus and control to get stronger"

Lia put her book on her lap, and dug in her bag before pulling her note book out and holding it to show Juvia.

"For example like this…" Lia changed the red notebook to a yellow one, before opening it a plucking a paper out and putting the notebook back in her bag. She held the paper and concentrated on it, the paper changed to a silver star shaped broch. "I just realized you have never seen me use my magic till now"

"Actually Juvia remembers seeing you teleport; the day you came back to the guild when everyone hugged you" Juvia stated

"It's not teleportation per say…" Lia informed her "Fragment apparition, it's a spell I can only use on myself, I basically turn myself into particles and then gather at a nearby location, it covers only a short distance and can't be used consecutively I have to wait a few seconds before using it again but at the same time it doesn't use that much magic, it's like a bonus that come with particle magic. Although when it comes to me, I better at support than offensive or defensive magic."

She held Juvia's hand and handed her the broch "Here a gift for you" Lia told her with a grin, Juvia smiled in return accepting the gift.

"Come to think of it the first spell that actually came as a bonus to you" Eiran snorted as he remembered "The one you use to change your cloth right?"

Juvia was confused, so Lia used her magic and tank top and shorts changed into a dress before she changed them back. Gajeel somehow wasn't surprised considering he saw how the orange head was proud of her designs.

"You use water magic, right?" Eiran asked her "And Gajeel, you're the iron dragon slayer? We might as well try to familiars ourselves with each other strength and weaknesses since haven't worked together before. I myself use Crystal magic, I am better at close combat."


	9. Lilac Village

**Year x768**

"It's getting worse" Porlyusica said looking towards the five-year-old Lia. Sophia stared at her daughter with clenched fists. She was so strong, but she couldn't help her only daughter. "At this rate her body won't hold for long"

"There has to be a way…" Sophia said as she looked at the ground.

 **Year x784**

They spent the first part of their trip discussing their magic, before they relaxed into a comfortable silence. They reached the station by sundown and stayed in a hotel for the night. Lia and Juvia shared a room while they boys shared another, although Gajeel wasn't happy.

"Juvia, you are not going to stop pouting?" Lia asked the water mage, Lia had changed to her pajamas.

"But…" Juvia started "Juvia thinks Gray might be sharing a room with her love rival!"

Lia sweat dropped at the blue head, she had never dealt with a love stricken woman, let along someone at the level Juvia was.

"Ok how about we go to town?" Lia asked the bluenette "You could find a gift to bring back to Gray!"

Juvia brightened taking that as a sign, Lia changed her cloth to a shirt black pleated skirt, with a green short sleeved button up shirt and black ankle length boots.

They left the hotel and walked through town checking the different stands.

"Okay I have to ask" Lia said to Juvia "But what made you love Gray so much?"

"The first time I met him my heart beat so fast…Juvia knew we were meant for each other…" Juvia swooned with a blush as Lia sweat dropped in the back, sure Gray was a handsome guy, but she never saw someone who would do what Juvia did just because of that. "And…" Lia watched Juvia's expression turn softer "He showed me the blue sky for the first time"

Lia smiled, maybe Juvia did have deep affection for Gray, judging from her face.

"Alright!" Lia cheered as she gripped Juvia's hands "Let's find him a gift" She winked at the blushing girl.

Eiran had left the grumbling dragon slayer and made his way to the bar close to the hotel where they were staying.

"So how is Lilac village holding up?" He asked the bartender as he sat at the bar drinking.

"Wouldn't know" The bartender replied "Since the entire thing started most people started avoiding going to the western area in general"

"So not even supplies have been going to them?" Eiran asked with a raised eye brow, if they were being attack there's bound to be injuries which means they would at least need medical supplies.

The bartender was nervous as he spoke. "Look with dark guilds, everyone tries to keep themselves safe" He told him "although there's a girl that comes from that village, she's usually the one that gets supplies before going back, although it's surprising since the dark guild seems to keep everyone else imprisoned in the village till it's completely destroyed"

Eiran narrowed his eyes at this info. "Have any idea what's the dark guild behind this?"

She and Juvia spent a few hours walking around and getting some ice cream while looking at the different stalls, Juvia did end up buying a gift for Gray.

"So do you have someone you like?" Juvia asked Lia who just shook her head

"I haven't had time for it" Lia lied, she had given up because the few times she got asked out they were scared away by her over protective brother. "I might not be meant to have that special someone"

"But I am sure…" Juvia started but Lia stopped her

"If it happens, it happens I am not going to stop my life for it" Lia told her shrugging.

Lia dragged Juvia to a cloth shop in town as they looked at the displays, before they decide to head back.

Lia had bought a few metal stuff and a sandwich for the two male mages to eat. As Juvia went to their room ahead Lia stopped at the boys' room and when she was about to knock, she sensed Eiran just entering the hotel.

"So…" She asked him as he walked to the room and he shrugged

"I did find out some interesting things that worth investigating" He told Lia as she handed him the sandwich and he thanked her.

"You're really got into the information gathering" Lia stated, the boy she remembered was more like Natsu which was ask later act now, she could tell how much he had matured in those four years.

"Force of habit" He told her grinning as she shook her head "I will tell you what I found out tomorrow with Gajeel and Juvia"

"Alright" She said walking away after handing him the iron for Gajeel "Night"

The next day they found a cart to take them to Lilac village, or at least as close as possible since the driver was nervous about going to the village itself.

After dropping them half way to the village, they started walking while Eiran told them what he found out.

"A girl that manages to get past the dark guild…" Lia was thought full as she considered what Eiran told them.

"I never heard of Fallenpikes" Gajeel stated with crossed arms

"They're one of the guilds under Eptá Amartíes" Eiran informed him.

"But why would they keep the villagers imprisoned in the guild?" Juvia asked as Eiran shrugged.

"That seems to the mystery" Eiran told her

They made it to the village by the afternoon. They froze when they arrived, the town located in the middle of a forest, was eerily silent.

It was mostly small cottages with dirt roads and a few small farming spots.

"They're hiding…" Gajeel stated as he smelled the air.

"If what master told us is correct, and what we found out is, this would be about right…" Eiran stated as he saw some people peek through their windows.

Lia could sense a good portion of the village, with it being somewhat small. What peeked her interest was the fact she could sense a mage in the village and also a foreign weird type of magical energy, one that seemed…dark and for some reason familiar, that she decided to follow.

"Lia?" Juvia asked as Lia started walking forward

"Where are you going?" Gajeel asked.

"I sense something…weird and dangerous" She told them as she kept walking when Eiran started following without saying anything they followed too.

When they neared the cottage, which was bigger than the others, where she sensed the weird magic, Gajeel smelled the air again.

"It smells weird alright" He told them, they were stopped by an elder man in some simple cloth.

"Are you the Fairy Tail mages?" He asked them as they nodded "I am glad you arrived as fast as you did, I am the village chief, Ohtli."

"I am Eiran Brack, Gajeel Redfox, Lia Sephiran, Juvia Lockser" Eiran introduced them "If you could tell us all you know; we'll head right away to deal with the dark guild"

"They just came out of nowhere, they didn't have any demands, they just attacked, we have nothing of value in the village that would drive them to even attack us" He told them "The mages usually just make sure no one can escape into the forest while the demon is the one that does the damage, he's already…we have had casualties already"

"May I ask what's in the cottage?" Lia asked pointing to the large cottage

"Our injured from the attacks…more specifically from whatever the demon does" He told them as he motioned for them to follow "We have had a few dying because of whatever he does to them; they fall ill for a while before they eventually…"

They arrived at the cottage and as they went inside, they froze a lot of the people were organized on the ground with some people going around taking care of them while some had people sitting beside them. Lia's eyes zoomed on the mage she had sensed.

It was a young woman sitting on the ground hugging her legs, beside her was a young boy lying on a sheet like most of the ill.

"A mage…?" Lia wondered

"That's Raine Forelight" He told Lia and the others noticed who she was looking at. "Poor girl lost both her parents to this and her little brother is ill too from the demon. It happened during the last attack when she went to town to get us some supplies"

"That explains one mystery, but…" Eiran started

"I know what you're going to ask" The old man turned towards him "She did try to fight, but she was overwhelmed and defeated."

"I would like to look at one of the ill, may I?" She asked as the chief nodded, she headed towards the girl.

"Excuse me" She called the girl's attention, who looked up at her, Lia could tell the girl had been crying "I am one of the Fairy Tail's mage sent to deal with the dark guild, my name's Lia Sephiran. May I check on your little brother?"

"Can you help him?" Raine asked sniffling

"I will have to check on him to tell you" She replied as the others came behind her, they were now attracting attention from the ones in make-up infirmary.

"You can…Please, if you can save him!" Raine begged

"I will do my best" Lia told her with a small smile.

She turned to the younger boy, he didn't look older than 7, he had messy black hair and as Lia opened his eyes, to check his pupils, she could see the green eyes he shared with his sister.

She then put her head to his chest, as she heard his heart beat which was slower. She raised her head and put her hands to his chest as she used her magic focusing on sensing with it.

"What did you figure?" Eiran asked her, when she stopped as she frowned.

"Raine, is your brother a mage like you?" Lia asked the pink haired girl, who shook her head.

"He hadn't learned magic, as far as I know" Raine told her although she was confused to how she had known she was a mage.

"Chief are there any mages among the injured?" Lia asked the elder as he shook his head.

"I am the only one, I was traveling with my master till about a year ago when I came back" Raine told her.

"It's definitely a spell, I don't think there's a way to undo it except by defeating the one who did it" Lia told them as she stood up although Eiran could tell she was withholding something.

They started walking out of the cottage afterwards, once outside, as the chief led them to a cottage where they could stay.

It was a small two room cottage with the main hall having a dining table with three chairs.

"Lia?" Eiran called her

"If they were mages, I would say Magic deficiency syndrome" Lia told them "But since they're not, then the 'demon' is probably feeding on their life force"

"Feeding on their life force?!" Juvia stated shocked

"That's…" Gajeel was as shocked

"So that's why the dark guild has been attacking" Eiran was angry

"Not just that, there's no way it's demon" Lia informed them "It's definitely a magic spell casted by a mage"

"How would you know?" Gajeel wondered

"I faced demons before, every magic even though it's unique to each person still has something it shares with everything" Lia told them making Gajeel blink in confusion as Lia thought of a way to simplify it.

"You shouldn't ask if you can't understand details" Eiran told him snorting

"Let's say Dragon slayer magic" Lia told him "You, Laxus and Natsu each have a different element and Laxus is different since his magic is from a lacrima, but still I can sense closely the small part that your magic comes from dragons. I think your sense of smell works a little like it…"

"Fine, I get it!" Gajeel grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"So it's actually a mage doing this?" Juvia asked for confirmation as Lia nodded with a grim look "But for what purpose?"

"We'll have to ask him when we find him" Eiran stated

"Let's go then!" Gajeel smirked as he started heading out of the cottage, but was stopped by Eiran who pulled him from his collar, causing him to fall. "Hey!"

"Do you have an idea where to find them?" Eiran asked the dragon slayer with a raised eyebrow as Lia shook her head in the back. Before she sensed it.

"I just found our way!" She told them as they turned to look at her. "You guys rest for a bit, this just calls for some scouting" She took off her bag and put it on the table.

"Be careful" Eiran told her as she nodded before teleporting

"What is she going to do?" Gajeel asked "I could have tracked them by smell"

"She probably sensed the enemy lookout, which means he'll be going to their camp to inform them of us" Eiran told them

"IS it okay for just Lia to go?" Juvia asked worried.

"She's not stupid, she won't face the enemy by herself, she probably will get out as soon as the mages at the camp enter her sensing range" Eiran assured the bluenette, before he smirked "Beside she can be scary when she wants to be"

Eiran took a seat at one of the chairs, to wait for Lia. "For now let's rest and wait for her" Eiran told them as Gajeel grumbled as he pulled some of the iron Lia had gotten him from his bag and started eating as he sat on the ground cross legged. Juvia sighed but before she could take a seat a knock came on the door.

She headed to the door, and opened it to reveal Raine who stood their nervously. she looked to be about 17 and was a little taller than Lucy, she had puffy pink hair in a short ponytail and green eyes.

She was wearing a sleeveless mid-thigh green dress with a white belt with a small satchel tied to it around her waist. And under were black knee length pants, with black sandals, and tied to the other side of her belt were two circular shaped with a sharpened outer edge silver blades, chakram.

"I... uh…Just wanted to tell you what I know" She told the water mage as Eiran was quick to appear beside Juvia inviting the girl inside.

Raine was surprised to see Gajeel eating iron, but didn't comment on it as she stood in the main hall.

"We heard from the chief already that you faced the guys behind this" Eiran stated as she nodded stiffly

"I did, most of them aren't so strong, and that's saying something since I am not that strong myself" She spared a small laugh before turning grim "The main problem is the demon, he beat my spirits with one move, magic didn't even seem to affect him rather it made him stronger"

"Spirits?" Gajeel asked

"I use Rune spirit magic" She explained

"That's a rare type of magic" Eiran commented he had met a mage who used this magic before. "You said magic didn't affect him?"

She nodded stiffly "Every spell, he just absorbed it" She told them "And even when I tried to fight with my chakram" Her hand slipped to the weapon on her waist "I just got thrown back easily"

"Then why are you alive?" Gajeel asked with narrowed eyes as Juvia called him for his question but he ignored her "That guy is already killing your village but even though he defeated you he let you walk away"

"I don't know why…" She told them as she looked at the ground with her hands clenched beside her. "The next I know it after fighting is waking up in the infirmary"

Eiran looked at her, she didn't seem to be lying, which gave rise to the question of why that mage would just let her go, especially if Lia's diagnosis was right, wouldn't it have been better to use the spell he used on the villagers on her?

"Alright, thanks for telling us" Eiran told the girl

"I…I want to come with you" She looked up as she looked Eiran in the eye, her nervousness all gone replaced with determination

"Sorry girlie, we can't be baby sitting on the job" Gajeel told her

"It would be too dangerous" Juvia agreed

"I have to agree with them" Eiran stated crossing his hand

Meanwhile in the forest, a cloaked man was running, he had tried to be as inconspicuous as possible when he was close to the village but now he needed to report back as soon as possible.

Unknown to him following a distance behind was Lia, she had focused her sense on him and waited till he was far into her range before she teleported to close the distance between them.

She had been at it for almost half an hour now, but she smirked when she teleported this time and in her range were more than one mage, from what she sensed there were eleven.

Although frowned, one of them, the one with the high amount of magic…felt familiar. She massaged her temples as she felt a headache coming before starting to teleport back.

The man ran into the area where the mages sat most of them spread with no fire so that their location wouldn't be revealed.

Resting against a tree was one mage, the only one to sit by himself, the other around him were huddled together for their own safety and fear of that mage.

"Lord Ruosir!" The cloaked mage called to the lone wizard who opened his red eyes to look at the man. "Fairy Tail mages just arrived at the village, four of them!"

"Oh! Fairy Tail? Must be my luck!" The man smirked to himself as he licked his mouth "A feast just for me eh? This is going to be fun!"


	10. Battle with Dark Mage

Lia made her way back to the village easily, but as she teleported into the cottage where they were staying, she wasn't surprised to see the three sitting around waiting but was surprised to sense Raine watching their cottage from outside.

"That girl…Raine is waiting outside" Lia stated confused.

"She wouldn't take no for an answer!" Gajeel grumbled he had already smelled her waiting outside. Lia raised an eyebrow though.

"Probably plans on following us" Eiran stated, Lia before he told her what happened while she was away.

"I see…" Lia said sighing "But we can't really stop her if she decides to follow"

"Lia…" Eiran groaned knowing what she was going to say

"I will watch out for her" Lia argued "Beside better come with us instead of just jumping into the middle of the battle."

"You honestly think she stands a chance" Gajeel frowned as he told Lia "Girley is Lucky she's alive after being beaten"

"Well for one she has magic more than me…" Lia stated while Eiran rolled his eyes, everyone had more magic than her with how her magic was "Secondly would you have just stopped if someone beat you while trying to hurt the people you care about?"

Silence was their reply, it was Fairy Tail after all, two of the mages here were enemies before because their former guild had hurt a part of their family.

"Still…" Eiran scratched the back of his head before sighing "Fine!"

"Too soft!" Gajeel yelled at the mage

"Did you find their camp Lia?" Juvia asked, Lia nodded.

"Less than an hour into the forest" Lia told them "I sensed about eleven mages and no demons! One of them though had a high amount of magic"

"We better wait a little so you can recover your magic" Eiran told Lia who shook her head

"I am good to go, beside we better handle them before nightfall and…" Lia told him determined, before looking with a serious look as her mouth formed a thin line "before anyone else dies" he just sighed.

"Are you sure Lia?" Juvia asked the girl who grinned

"No need to worry, I haven't used that much magic!" Lia replied

"We won't be covering for you in the middle of the fight" Gajeel told her.

"Alright, you ready?" Eiran asked his guild mates as Juvia nodded and Gajeel punched a fist to his hand smirking standing up, and Lia nodded.

As they headed to the outskirts of the village, Eiran walked beside Lia. "What happened?" He whispered to her, he felt like something was bothering her.

"Nothing happened" She told him before she stopped sighing. "Come out Raine!" Lia called as the other girl froze, before coming out from her cover and walking towards them guiltily.

"How did you know I was here?" Raine asked

"It's one of my abilities" Lia told her "Now if you come will you do as we say, if we tell you to run you run got it?"

"Are you sure it's safe to bring her?" Juvia asked again as Lia shook her head

"One of the mages is strong beating him would probably take all of us" Lia told them "But like I said before I understand why she want to come; I would probably do the same in her position. That's why I am offering her to come with us as long as she agrees to follow what I say"

"I will do it!" Raine answered "I just want to save my village and my brother" Lia nodded before Gajeel just tusked as they started to walk into the forest with Lia leading.

They talked while they walked, it was mostly though what they were going to do and Raine explaining her magic, so they knew how she could help.

Lia was a curious person, she was glad that for a time, someone didn't seem bothered by the questions.

Rune spirit magic, Raine had explained to Lia that the runes that were about 24 runes were divided to Orbs, Stone plate, and spells.

The orbs were battle summons, there were only 11 orbs. Raine currently were in possession of three, Tiw, Freyja and Ullr.

Stone plate wasn't meant for battle; doesn't mean they weren't important though there's 13 plate. Raine had three of those as well.

But both only had a certain number, that's what made this magic type rare.

Spells weren't summons, Obviously, they were spells that could be cast, only certain runes could be used like this, according to Raine there were only 11 of the runes that could be casted as spells. Although Raine had to have small pieces of wood that she kept with her or some sort of solid medium to pass the spell through, she had stated that when she was stronger she would be able to cast them without the wood or medium in general.

The wizards at the camp sat waiting, Ruosir had told them to wait since the Fairy Tail mages would probably come to them anyways, and then as he said "The hunted would become the hunter"

So when a mix of water and fire came at the mages they were ready for them, but still a couple of slow reactors got hit, reducing their numbers by two.

Lia and Juvia walked into the camp to face the men.

 _Flash back_

" _I can smell eleven people" Gajeel confirmed as they Lia stopped telling them they were close now._

" _Okay you three" Lia turned to her guild mates and Raine grapping their hands in hers, she had Gajeel and Juvia's hand in her left and Eiran's in her right. While Gajeel and Juvia were confused, Eiran knew what she was doing._

" _Body enchant: Celero…" She said as she cast her enchantments on the four of them, "Robur! Defendo!"_

 _As she let go of their hands, Gajeel moved his hands._

" _My body feels lighter" He stated._

" _Speed, Strength and Defense" She told them counting on her hand "I cast enchantments to help increase them"_

" _Amazing" Juvia stated as Gajeel grinned._

" _Let's go fight now" He stated._

" _Wait, Lia…" Eiran stated as he turned to her, he was getting used to waiting to see what plan she had._

" _Alright, Juvia, Raine and I will go in first and handle the 10 weak mages" Lia told them "Reduce the numbers so we can focus on the main issue"_

" _Oi aren't you forgetting someone!" Gajeel shouted at her before she looked at him, he was surprised to see the different calculated look in her eyes._

" _We need to know who we're exactly dealing with" Lia told him "Raine and I by far have the lowest magical energy, while you and Eiran have the most, Juvia is in between, we'll find out what we're dealing with before you guy interfere the better grasp we have the quicker we'll finish the mission"_

 _End of flashback_

So Eiran and Gajeel were both behind the trees waiting for the signal as Raine jumped into the field as well.

She pulled a small orb from her satchel. It was a magenta orb with a rune on it.

"Bearer of the rune of Eihwaz, Ullr…" Raine said as the orb started glowing "I summon thee"

Magic swirled in front of them before a man appeared. He had had wolf ears, wolf tail, green hair that was braided and reached mid back and brown eyes. he was wearing a brown leather long sleeved top and brown leather pants and boots reaching his knees, and on his back was a bow and a dagger tied to his belt.

"Please help me!" Raine told the man

"Anything for my little Raine" Ullr stated in a doting father voice making the girl blush.

"Ullr!" Raine called embarrassed as he shot a rain of arrows at the wizards.

"You again girlie!" one of the mages said to Raine smirking "You never learn do you!"

Raine grit her teeth as she pulled her chakrams and ran at the man, she slashed the blade too fast for him to react.

"Don't underestimate me!" She told him as she dodged a fire spell aimed at her and kicked the mage with a roundhouse kick, she stopped to see the man she slashed was standing again, putting her facing two wizards including the one she just kicked, who was massaging his chin where she kicked him.

Juvia was easily standing there using her water lock to trap the four enemies she faced and watched as they began to fall unconscious.

Ruosir didn't respond to the battle just narrowed his eyes at Lia as she teleported to get away from an attack, she appeared behind the mage who attacked her and used her explosion to send him flying.

Ruosir smirked "What luck?" He muttered to himself.

"stay in one place!" One of the men screamed at Lia as she appeared behind them, the two got ready for her to aim her explosion so one of them put up an earth wall.

Lia smirked "Bad idea!" Lia shouted so he could hear, she walked up to the wall resting her palm against it "Exploding solids is easier and more effective!"

The men inside were shocked and their eyes widened. "Explosion!" As the dust cleared Lia was glad to see the two down for the count.

Raine faced the two, with her chakram in her hands, she threw the two blades at them as they rotated like boomerang, the men crouched to avoid it, but she quickly crouched with her hand on the ground.

"Rune cast: Isa! Hold!" She shouted causing the ground to be covered in Ice as it froze the three. "Too easy"

The three girls turned to face the strongest mage who stood smirking with crossed arms like he was waiting for them.

 _Flashback_

" _Part 2 of the plan is facing the strong mage or as you call him Raine the demon" Lia told them "The three of us will face him off first, I want to test his ability to absorb magic Raine told us about"_

 _End of flashback_

"I have been longing for a good meal!" Ruosir stated as he licked his lips.

"Magic missile: Fire!" A few of the fireballs hit went for him but he just raised his hand and her magic seemed to be absorbed in a twister like motion.

"Thanks for the appetizer" He told Lia who narrowed her eyes.

Ruosir's eyes though turned to Raine and Ullr who stood side by side. "I can't believe you're brave enough to face me after what happened last time!" He chuckled

"Why did you let me live?" Raine asked him with clenched fists as Ullr gripped his bow tightly.

"Isn't it obvious?!" He asked like he was on the verge of cracking up in laughter "I wanted to see your face when you watch all your village, all the people you care about die, and when you realize they died because you were weak…you would beg for me to kill you" He cracked up in laughter as Raine gabbed at him.

On the other hand, the four Fairy Tail wizards were livid.

"Are you really enjoying this?" Lia asked the mage quietly as he stopped laughing and smirked

"Well what's more fun than possibly seeing the weak suffer?" He asked Lia who looked up with a dark glare and his smirk increased "That's the look…"

"Water slicer!" Juvia yelled as multiple blades of water headed for him, but he just raised his hand and absorbed the attacks.

Lia teleported behind him "Body enchant: Crumble!" But his other hand gripped her wrist as she felt her magic being stopped before the spell could take effect.

"Slow" He sang in a teasing tone, as Lia just gripped his arm with the hand he held.

"Crumble!" She casted again this time succeeding before he threw her away, she teleported to a standing position.

As Raine and Ullr appeared beside Ruosir, Ullr had abandoned his bow to the dagger, they both tried slashing at the man who kept dodging, even though their speed were nothing to scoff at, Ruosir just smirked easily hands in pockets as he kept dodging.

"Juvia!" Lia called to the water mage as they both gathered their magic. "Explosion!"

"Water Nebula!" Juvia yelled at the same time, Ruosir just raised his hands absorbing the two attacks, easily as he dodged the spirit and his mage as well.

Lia decided this was enough for now, more than that and they would be handing him magic for no good reason.

"Now!" Lia yelled.

 _Flashback_

" _Part 3 is when you guys join in" Lia told them "A full out battle, I want to test how far his magic goes and if it really can just absorb magic, every magic has a weakness, so we just have to figure his. Also at this point, Raine, Juvia and I will support the two of you from behind since you two are better at close combat. From here we'll deal with things at they come"_

 _End of flashback_

"Alright, Diamond Gauntlets!" Eiran appeared above the demon, unlike the other two he was used to Lia's enchantment, so he had used his new speed easily appearing above the Ruosir, with his hands getting covered in diamond and aimed a punch.

"About time! Iron Dragon's club" Gajeel shouted as his hand transformed into a large iron club that he aimed at Ruosir.

He stopped the two easily with his hands and absorbed the magic in the crystal and iron causing them to crumble, as he ended holding Eiran's and Gajeel's fists.

Lia teleported behind him, with Juvia in front of him and Raine on the side with Ullr pulling his bow's string.

"Rune cast: Kaunaz! Beam!" Raine yelled as she fired a fire beam at him, while Ullr fire a few arrows.

"Water Nebula!" Juvia yelled as two columns of water appeared, which rotate around each other and forms a helix that pushed against him.

"Explosion!" Lia yelled and surprisingly he got hit by the attacks. He quickly threw Eiran who flipped in the air and landed on his feet, and Gajeel who just skid to a halt on his feet.

Ruosir appeared in front of Raine and Ullr, as the spirit moved in front of Raine to protect her. Ruosir just gripped Ullr and absorbed his magic. "Spirits make the greatest meals!"

"Ullr!" Raine called as the spirit started fading.

"I am sorry Raine!" Ullr said quietly before fading.

"Water Nebula!" Juvia yelled but Ruosir easily absorbed her magic. Raine was quick to react and slashed at him but he jumped back. Before he ran at Juvia, tried punching her but the attack passed through as her body turned to water.

"Interesting…" He mulled but turned around to block Eiran and Gajeel, both who aimed for a punch. "Can't a man have a meal in peace!"

Lia watched in the background trying to connect the dots and figure his magic's weakness.

"So Black steel and…Midas, right?" Ruosir asked as he fought with Eiran and Gajeel both who opted for hand to hand combat, as they exchanged attacks with Ruosir, who was skilled himself.

Midas coming from the king that had the ability to turn what he touches to gold, in Eiran's case crystal.

Raine was about to use her magic but Lia teleported beside her and stopped her, without saying anything she kept watching.

Gajeel and Eiran jumped back. "Water lock!" Juvia stated she had signaled them to get away before she held the mage in her water ball.

"Crystallization!" Eiran stated as he turned the water sphere to crystal with a base to the ground. A crack appeared in the crystal and the crystal completely broke. Ruosir ran at Juvia with surprising speed.

"You're getting annoying" He told her before grapping her shoulder "Now go to sleep and give me your power…" He cast the same spell he used on the villagers on her causing her to scream before she fell to the ground.

"Juvia!" Lia and Eiran called, while Eiran and Gajeel jumped at the mage to get him away from Juvia, Lia teleported beside her. She sat on her knees before pulling Juvia's head on her lap, it was the same magic deficiency syndrome, Raine came to their side as Lia handed Juvia to her.

"Stay out of the fight and watch over her" Lia told the pinkette who nodded.

"What did you do to her?" Gajeel asked the mage angrily as Ruosir seemed to be getting his power back.

"You must have seen my work at the village" He told them with a smirk "It's my magic to absorb all forms of magic, it comes with the price if I don't feed for a while it would kill me and recently I have lost the source I fed on so I resorted to these villages" He told them before he grinned "But I have to say this is more fun, oh the desperate faces… the tears… the begging… my old source never did those"

They were sick of this man, Lia though furrowed her eyebrows, something was nagging her but she didn't know what.

As Gajeel and Eiran stood with their hands clenched. Before they ran at him again, this time though he jumped back and put his hands beside each other, as Lia felt it her eye widened and in a fraction second she appeared beside the boys raising her hands towards Ruosir.

"Disappear!" He said as the black magic circle appeared in front of him and a beam of magic headed for them.

"Destroy!" She yelled as an orange with red tainted magic circle appeared in front of her hands as the magic beam came at them. Even with the spell getting destroyed, the pressure from it they could feel, Lia's hair rustled behind her, as the other stood behind her.

She gritted her teeth trying to stop the beam till it died down, she fell to her knees panting.

Ruosir landed on the ground standing. "Oh you ruined my fun!" Ruosir said with a smirk "Did I forgot to mention, I can release magic as well as absorb it?"

Eiran narrowed his eyes, Lia was using too much magic, first her scouting, then enchanting five people and then the fight, now this. At this rate…

Lia pushed herself to stand even though she was breathing hard, she looked at Ruosir with a smirk. "I figured his trick…" Lia whispered to Gajeel and Eiran

"About time!" Eiran told her although he smiled.

"His hands" Lia told them "His magic whether absorbing or releasing, comes from his hand, he can't absorb magic in the air or control it in anyway with his magic, even with Juvia he touched her shoulder before he absorbed her magic"

"I get it now!" Gajeel grinned "Gehee"

"We'll keep him occupied!" Eiran said as he and Gajeel walked forward, and ran at the mage, the exchanged melee attacks with him again, before Gajeel grabbed his arms and pushed him downwards, Eiran appeared behind him.

"Crystal Hail!" He yelled as shards of crystal formed and rained down on Ruosir who got hit by the shards.

"Iron Dragon's Roar" He shouted After gathering Magic Power in his mouth, he fired it at point blank before letting go of Ruosir who was thrown back.

Ruosir Hit a few trees breaking them before he came to a halt. Lia appeared behind him. "You're not the only one that learned to gather magic particles" She said deciding to try a new spell she put her hands in front of her "Magic Burst!" A beam of energy appeared from her hands aimed at Ruosir who was hit by the full force. "Raine!"

"Rune cast: Kaunaz! Ball!" She yelled with a wood piece in her hands, fireball headed straight for Ruosir as he got hit.

He fell to the ground, as he stood Eiran appeared in front of him, he punched consecutive punches, before kicking him the stomach as he was thrown backwards.

"Iron Dragon's Sword" Gajeel changed his hand into a sword and started to slash at Ruosir's back.

Lia meanwhile appeared beside Eiran. "Lia, do you have enough magic?" Eiran asked her

"You bet!" She said as she understood what he meant and grabbed his hand, standing beside him.

"Unison Raid…" They both chanted together "Crystal Hail Explosion!"

Crystal shards rained around Ruosir, as Gajeel quickly jumped back, before they started exploding around him.

AS they stood waiting for the dust to clear, Lia who was beside Eiran pushed him out of the way as Ruosir's punch hit her before he pulled her and he smirked.

"Time to eat!" Before they knew it, Lia screamed in agony.

"Lia!" Eiran called, Ruosir threw Lia to the side but was caught by Gajeel who put her to the ground although she was unconscious, although he felt her back generate some heat which confused him slightly.

Raine watched from the back wide eyed, all that damage and he somehow still stood, and two of the Fairy Tail mages were down now, could they even beat him.

"That was delicious!" Ruosir commented licking his lips, as Gajeel narrowed his eyes, Eiran glared with a dark look.

Eiran appeared above him and landed a kick from above, Ruosir hit the ground as a crater formed from the force. Ruosir gripped Eiran's leg and attempted to throw him, although the latter just moved his weight on his hand, and threw the demon into the trees instead.

"Crystal Lance" Eiran said as the crystal like beams hit Ruosir before he appeared in front of him "Crystal shackles" Shackles appeared around Ruosir and pulled him to ground. He struggled against them since they tied his arms with no way for him to move his hands.

Gajeel extended his iron club hitting the demon while Eiran surrounded his hand in crystal gauntlets and started punching Ruosir, his punches were stronger from before Ruosir could feel the difference.

Eiran gripped Ruosir by the neck, before crashing him on the ground, and started punching him, Ruosir kept attempting to block, but he couldn't stop the angry Fairy Tail wizard.

Eiran stood as he looked at the somehow still conscious Ruosir.

They were all shocked as Lia appeared behind Ruosir though she was shaking. "Like I would let something silly like that stop me" She said as Ruosir's eyes widened "Explosion!" The explosion hit full force stronger than ever before like Lia was drawing her magic from somewhere else. As the dust cleared and Ruosir was unconscious on the ground, Lia smiled as she started to fall herself, although Eiran appeared beside her and caught her.

"Idiot!" He whispered to the unconscious female as he felt the heat radiating off the seal on her back.

Eiran looked at the unconscious Ruosir with his tattered shirt, and his eyes narrowed when he noticed the guild mark on his chest, it was a curved seven inside a Heptagon, it was the mark of Eptá Amartíes.

"What happened?" Juvia asked waking up as Raine was surprised to see the girl waking up already as she blinked and stared at the destroyed area.

"You missed the fight!" Gajeel told her as he walked up to the water mage, Eiran carrying the unconscious Lia walked up to them "She's not waking up?"

"No, it's expected The seal is reacting to the fact she used too much magic or more like that the last of her magic was taken by that guy"

"Seal?" Juvia asked

"Not my story to tell" He said sighing as he started walking with Lia in his arms. "Just ask she's not really keeping it a secret."

Raine looked at the mages and at the fallen dark mages before she cried. "Thank you" The Fairy Tail mages turned to her "Thank you!" Eiran and Juvia smiled while Gajeel just placed his arms behind his head.

They tied up the 11 mages, taking extra precaution with Ruosir, and dragged them back to the village, Although Gajeel pulled the rope literally dragging them. They had picked up their bags from where they had left them in the forest as they made it back to the village.

As soon as they arrived at the village Raine ran towards the infirmary, and headed for her brother.

"Sis?" A voice whispered so Raine looked towards her brother to find him awake, her eyes widened. "What happened?"

"Sol?" Her voice shook as he started sitting up, she pulled him into a hug crying. "You're okay! You really are okay!"

"What happened sis?" He asked confused. Around them all of the ill were getting up, so happy tears were flowing from the family members.


	11. Time Travel

AN: Sorry it took so long I was taking my college finals, which translates I just came back from hell XD

Juvia sat beside the unconscious Lia while Eiran and Gajeel handed he dark mages to the rune knights who had arrived at the village. It was still noon of the next day after the battle, while Juvia and all the villagers who were affected by that spell had already woken up and were recovering steadily, with Juvia already completely recovered since she wasn't affected for long, Lia still laid feverish.

Juvia sighed as she changed the wet sheet on Lia's forehead, while the unconscious woman breathed heavily.

Another thing that surprised Juvia and Gajeel was despite everything, they weren't injured or even bruised from the fighting, Eiran explained that it was Lia's enchantment, her defense enchantment was one of her strongest spell, it would take a lot of force to break.

"Good riddance" Eiran stated as he handed the mages to the rune knights, beside him was Gajeel with his arms crossed. All of the mages were complaining except for the one from eptá amartíes, who seemed calm like he didn't mind going to jail.

They did manage to get his name, Ruosir, surprisingly he was happy to give it to them, Eiran was sure this guy was a nut job, then again he was from eptá amartíes, a guild from the Balam alliance, which made possible they would try and break him out. He did warn the rune knights about him, and there wasn't much he could do about the guy now.

"Well this mission is over and done with…" Gajeel said crossing his hands as they both walked back.

After they made it back, the village had cheered for them and everyone was thanking them and the chief tried to reward them, but they refused, after all it wasn't really an official job, it was a request by their guild master.

"We should pack up and leave by tomorrow" Eiran stated as Gajeel looked at him.

"With ginger still unconscious?" He asked as Eiran nodded

"It's better if we take her back" Eiran told him sighing "Porlyusica is the only one that can help her get better heal quicker, the other option is letting her rest…but it would take some time before she wakes up"

A kid ran straight into Gajeel "Watch it kid!" Gajeel told him before the kid caught with his friends apologizing.

"Well at least the place is livelier now" Eiran commented, before a kid stopped in front of him, as Eiran recognized him.

Lia was lost in the fever induced dream, not that she minded it. She stood at the door back in the guild hall, leaning against the railing as she stared at everyone, Gray and Natsu were fighting again while Erza was too busy eating a piece of cake to break them apart.

Lucy and a seventeen-year-old Lisanna shook their heads at the boys, while Juvia blushed reminding Gray about his clothe causing him to freak-out.

Happy just ate his fish, while cheering Natsu every now and then, Elfman watched as he said something about being a man. Mira was walking around waiting.

Levy was laughing at Jet and Droy while Gajeel beside her didn't look amused by it. Cana held a beer jug talking to Venus who sat at the same table, with Macao and Wakaba grinning and teasing the elder girl.

To another side, was Evergreen who was posing for Reedus as he drew her, while Bickslow and Freed sat at the bar beside them was Laxus as well, as he talked to Makarov, even next to him was Gildarts, who was talking with Eiran.

"Why are you just standing there?" Someone asked as Lia turned to look at the older woman, orange hair gathered in the neat bun and the familiar brown eyes as she leaned beside her and stared at the guild. "You should join in on the fun"

For some reason a sad voice added 'While it lasts', Lia shook her head to clear away that voice.

Lia shrugged, she felt content with watching from here, like if she joined the entire serenity, even though loud ruckus were coming from the fighting fire and ice mage, would break.

A loud barking from behind her made her shriek and flip over the railing ungracefully as she landed on her backside, she looked at where she thought she heard the voice come from but there was nothing there.

"Mom!" Lia said glaring at the said woman who was just barely holding in her laughter.

"You make it too easy, Lia!" Sophia told her, she had what little illusion magic she knew to scare Lia, using the face Lia feared dogs.

While Sophia was holding in her laughter, Lia's loud shriek and ungraceful landing had attracted the eyes of the guild as most of them laughed at her.

"It's not funny!" She said pouting as she crossed her arms.

"I am pretty sure it is" Eiran said laughing, although he stopped and everyone's laughs turned on him when he ended up half buried in the floor. "LIA!"

She laughed at him, she had changed the floor into clay before turning it back again after he was buried up to his chest.

"It won't last forever" A voice said from behind her as Lia turned to look to see it was her mother who was standing right behind her, Lia looked around her confused as everything and everyone disappeared.

"What…" Lia whispered confused "Everyone…"

She gasped as she found herself in some sort of temple, she guessed based on the walls which was covered in different runes and were made of stone that looked old and cracked. On the ground right under her was a giant magic circle, and both her and her mother stood right in the middle.

She bit her lip, clenching and unclenching her fists as terror filled her for some unknown reason.

"Unless you remember, Lia!" Sophia called startling Lia, as she felt her head pulsing as a headache grew "Lia! Lia!"

"Lia! Lia!" Eiran shook the girl, he guessed it was a nightmare that had caused her to start crying while still unconscious, so despite knowing she needed the rest and that she might not even respond to him, he decided to try and wake her up.

It was night and as he told Juvia and Gajeel they should rest, so they would be able to leave tomorrow, he stayed beside Lia, he was glad that her fever had went down a couple of hours ago.

It wasn't the first time he had seen her seal react, but it didn't mean he didn't worry, on the other hand he doesn't ever remember her crying while like this.

His eyes widened as she opened her eyes and started breathing heavily, he didn't expect her to actually wake up.

Lia took rigid breaths as her blurred eyes started adjusting to the dimly lit room, tile she made out Eiran staring back at her.

She still had a headache and her throat was dry and the soreness in her body wasn't helping either.

Eiran threw himself back into the chair sighing and muttering something Lia couldn't make out. She pushed herself into a sitting position despite her body complaining.

She wasn't wearing her clothes from before instead she was wearing a long sleeved wide shirt and she could feel the fabric rom long pants over her legs.

Eiran watched her as she put a hand to her head, while still silent, he figured that whatever she was dreaming of must have shook her.

"It was just a nightmare" He assured her as he moved to sit beside her on the bed "just a bad dream"

"It wasn't bad…It was…" Lia started saying shakily before taking a deep breath "I don't know what it was. How long was I out for?"

"Surprisingly just a day" He told her making her raise an eyebrow.

"It's surprising" She agreed and figured they were still in the village considering the room "So what happened while I was out?"

"Nothing big" He shrugged "Although I did have an interesting conversation with Raine. Her brother Sol came to me this morning and He asked about his sister joining Fairy Tail and took me to talk to her." Lia had a suspicion what the end was and smiled.

"That would be the second time we come back with members from a job" Lia told him shaking her head "Master might just be glad he built the large guild if we keep this up"

It was the afternoon as the four Fairy Tail mages along with Raine and her brother Sol stood near the road leaving the village, a cart was waiting for them and a lot of the villagers had come to see them off and thank them again, with the village chief in the front.

Gajeel and Juvia were surprised to see Lia up and okay the next day, but was glad she was okay although Gajeel more of stated that he was just glad they wouldn't have to carry her.

Lia had spent some time mediating and recovered her magic just enough to get herself moving again and to change her clothes back to the ones she came to the village wearing.

The four of them watched Raine and Sol faced the villagers.

"So it's time for you to head out again?" The chief stated as he stared at the two of them "Be careful you too and take care" He started tearing and soon everyone in the village were engulfing the two in hugs and saying goodbyes.

Even as they rode off, they kept waiving back at the people in the village. It was the second time leaving for Raine but it was still as hard. She looked back at her little brother and they both grinned at each other looking forward to what was waiting for them.

On their way back nothing interesting happened, Lia and Raine talked as Lia assured the latter about the guild and told her about some of the people in the guild, at the mention of Gray, Juvia jumped into the conversation.

Sol was intrigued by the different kinds of magic, as Eiran took the job of showing him different small status of crystal. Gajeel did try and join up using his metal when Eiran provoked him but that didn't end well.

The subject of Lia's seal didn't come up though.

They made it back to the guild by the next morning, Raine and Sol both stood awed as they stared at the guild, who was somewhat quiet given that the troublemakers were still on their mission.

"We're back Mira!" Eiran greeted as He, Juvia and Gajeel walked towards the bar. Lia was still beside Raine giving the pinkette a chance to snap out of it.

"Welcome back" Mira greeted.

"Lia!" Venus ran towards the older woman hugging her "Welcome back!"

Lia hugged the young girl back chuckling.

Juvia though pushed past the two guys.

"Is Gray not back yet?" She asked worriedly as Mira replied they weren't the water mage was crying as the guild almost flooded.

Makarov looked towards Eiran.

"It was a success" He told him "A tough battle, it was the work of a mage from Eptá amartíes leading a bunch of mages from a smaller dark guild and…Lia's seal acted again" Makarov frowned as the said girl walked with the pinkette in tow.

"Gramps, this is Raine Forelight and her little brother Sol" Lia introduced "She was hoping to join the guild."

He looked at the girl who was blushing slightly.

"Please allow me to join" Raine asked a she bowed nervously.

"Of course" Makarov grinned as she stood up smiling "Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

Eiran immediately sat at the bar and chuckled as he watched the guild flock around an embarrassed Raine.

"We've been getting lots of new people lately" Makarov stated while he drank

"Helps the family grow" Eiran sat there watching the scene

"So how did it go exactly?" Makarov asked wanting to know the details, Eiran started telling him.

Mira approached her and Raine got her Fairy Tail mark on her right upper arm in pink.

Sol was saved by Lia as she took him to side noticing Romeo was sitting in the guild.

"Romeo this is Sol, He's Raine's little brother" Lia introduced them, before she noticed the thunder tribe were back and started heading towards them "Have fun you two" Venus joined the two boys.

Venus wore a sleeveless frilly dress easily showing the Fairy Tail green mark on her left shoulder.

The day passed in welcome celebration for the Forelights, as they got to talk to the people around. They were confused when she told them she was a Rune spirit mage.

Lia had them stay at her house till they managed to get a place of their own, at least her house was lively now, and she did end up hearing a lecture from Makarov about using too much magic, she had made a mental note to get back at Eiran for snitching on her.

Especially since she was forced to go to Porlyusica, who kept insulting her and cursing humans for 'their stupidity to get themselves in trouble'.

The next day, was turned to another party too, when team Natsu had returned they had another new member with them as well, Wend Marvel, the sky dragon slayer and Carla who was a cat like Happy.

"It's a party everyday" Lia stated laughing, Raine was beside her smiling as she stared at the ruckus, they had spent the morning, registering Sol for school. "Come on, I will introduce you to those guys."

The day was another fun for them, Raine and Lucy became quick friends and somehow surprisingly Raine had managed to make friends with thunder tribe, although Evergreen kept teasing the poor girl, who was easy to make blush.

Venus was glad there was another girl her age around, although she and Wendy were different, Venus was more confident for one.

Lia sat at the bar happy to see Venus, Raine and Wendy getting along with the people in the guild.

During the next few days, Raine and Wendy went on jobs, Raine tagged along with Lia, Eiran and surprisingly with the thunder tribe on different missions.

Although Raine did seem to be getting along with Freed, for once he had someone he could talk to about his runes.

Venus and Wendy started tagging together too, although both had yet to take any big missions and just stuck to jobs in magnolia.

Although today, while Lia was in the guild archives cleaning it, she kept thinking what hit her to make her think going with team Natsu on a job was a good idea.

"Geez! Why do I have to do this?" Lucy complained while standing on the ladder flailing.

"You'll get hurt if you keep moving around." Happy warned from the ground as Lia kept one reading the book in her hand instead of putting it away like she was supposed to.

"Besides that, I can clearly see your panties." Gray noted blushing

"Don't look" Lucy was quick to hold her skirt from him

"It's not like we have a choice, since we accidentally destroyed so much of the town." Erza told them "At the very least, we should be grateful we only have to clean the archive"

"It was you guys who destroyed everything!" Lucy retorted to the red head

"What happened, happened, let's just get the cleaning over" Lia stated although her eyes never lift the book as she flipped pages

"Help clean instead of read!" Lucy retorted to her before turning to Natsu who was still staring at her "How long are you going to keep staring at my panties?"

"Something's not right." Natsu stated thoughtfully

"There's a lot to do. Get to it" Erza stated "You too Lia"

"Fine" Lia closed the book a put it on the shelf

"Natsu, Where's your scarf?" Happy asked flying as he handed Lia the book in his hand for her to put on the shelf.

"That's it!" Natsu pointed "Maybe I left it upstairs… I'm really spacing out today."

"I've noticed that." Lucy stated "Hey Natsu, how did you get that scar?" looking at the scar on Natsu's neck

"Now that you mention it, I don't remember." Gray stated, Lia started thinking about it

"Me neither" Erza agreed

"Natsu, could it be something that you don't want to remember?" Happy asked as Natsu's face turned terrified and started shaking in the corner.

"I don't want to bring back those memories." Natsu said

"Natsu's all depressed now!" Happy said surprised

"I remember that day" Lia stated "We never did see that guy again"

"That guy is a demon!" Natsu said "I've never seen such a horrible guy, ever!"

Erza, Gray and Lucy were surprised there was someone who actually scared Natsu. Lucy started falling as they all jumped to catch her and ended up hitting each other, Lia ended up beside Erza on top of Natsu in the pile.

One of the book fell and ended up open, they were shocked when it started glowing.

"What's that?" Gray wondered

"The book…"

"…is shining!" Lucy finished Erza's sentence

"We need to get away!" Lia stated but before they could react the light got too bright as the magic surrounded them.

When the light faded they stared at the book, which was the only one around, Lia look around them to find they were in the middle of the street.

"What was that?" Erza asked

"Huh?" Lucy wondered

"W-we're…outside?" Natsu wondered.

"That's not everything, look!" Happy called pointing behind them, they stared with shock at the guild building which was the old building.

"The guild looks like it was years ago!" Natsu shouted

"What the hell is going on here?" Gray asked

Lia sensed something that made her eyes widen.

"Hide, now!" She pushed them in a line as Erza held the book, till they were behind a building.

"Why?" Natsu asked

"I sensed you guys" She told them looking at the guild door which confused them even more

"Someone's coming out!" Lucy noted staring at the guild door as everyone's attention moved towards it.

A kid Erza, Natsu and Gray came out shocking everyone but Lia who had already sensed them.

"So there's two of you today?" the younger Erza asked

"I alone should be enough!" The younger Natsu complained

"I should be saying that!" the younger Gray retorted

"Today I will for sure…" The younger Natsu ran at Erza

"…beat Erza!" the kid Gray stated running as well as they both were about to attack Erza

The younger Erza ended beating the two in one hit, as the Gray and Natsu beside Lia sweat dropped at their younger selves.

"W-what's this?" Lucy wondered confused "A younger Erza, Natsu and Gray."

"Could it be that we…" Happy started

"Huh? What's it?" Lucy asked

"have been sent back into the past?!" Happy finished as Lia nodded

"That would be the best explanation!" Lia agreed

"What's this? Are we done already?" The younger Erza asked the fallen boys

"The past?!" Lucy wondered "There's no way…"

"There are ways, they're just rare" Lia stated "besides messing with time is too dangerous"

"What so you think you're doing to my younger self?" Natsu and Gray asked angrily Erza as Lia sweat dropped at the two.

"Wha…They're so carefree!" Lucy stated

The shocked Erza suddenly looked fondly at the scene.

"I still remember this day." She stated "Get up. Stand on your feet. My younger self would say such things." Gray and Natsu started watching the scene fondly too.

"10 jewels it turns violent" Lia whispered to Happy

"Aye" He replied back agreeing

The younger Erza turned to the fallen two before kicking them "Get up! Stand on your feet!"

"Called it!" Lia said

"That's not how you remembered it at all!" Gray and Natsu complained to Erza who blushed.

As they watched the younger Erza chase around Natsu and Gray angrily about her eaten cake.

"Everybody is so cute!" Lucy noted

"Ever since we were little, Erza's always been aggressive." Natsu said

"Had you forgotten that?" Gray asked as Happy cheered the younger Natsu.

"This isn't the time for reminiscing." Erza said "We need to find a way to get back to our own world"

"time" Lia corrected

"Why? I think it's fine. Let's just look around a bit" Natsu said

"Fine by me." Gray agreed

"You idiots! Haven't you ever heard of time paradoxes?" Erza asked as Lia's eyes widened when she sensed someone else coming.

Erza stopped explaining as They all were surprised when a younger Lia came out of the guild, holding a letter and blushing.

She had her shoulder length hair in a side ponytail and wore a knee length red summer dress with a short sleeved blue jeans jacket along with sandals.

She passed beside the fighting trio without even noticing them there, which actually caused them to stop.

"Is that you Lia?" Lucy asked but didn't get a reply, they all looked towards Lia and sweat dropped when they found her depressed.

"I remember this day" She stated gloomily.

"What's a time paradox?" Happy asked as they went back to the subject by the time Lucy finished explaining they looked around them to find everyone but Erza and Lia gone.

"Those guys…I didn't think they'd be this stupid!" Erza bellowed "Lucy, go and find them! Lia and I'll stay here and decipher this book."

"Y-yea! I'll get going." Lucy said as she started walking away before she was pulled back by Erza and forced into a bunny costume before she herself changed into a cat costume.

Erza explained those were the only two costumes she could pull in this timeline.

"What about Lia?" Lucy asked as they sweat dropped at the still depressed girl.

"this is the day…of all the days it had to be this one…" Lia was muttering to herself as Lucy just went to find the boys.

Lucy stared fondly at the guild, noting first a younger Macao and Wakaba, then a younger Mirajane who had jumped on the said men's heads. The younger Elfman and Lisanna approached Mira as well.

Lucy's attention then turned to the younger Cana and Levy, before noting the birth of team shadow gear.

Her attention then turned to the teenage Laxus and Eiran as they were playing cards.

"This is boring." Laxus noted as Eiran was starting to agree, putting his cards down. Laxus noticed wadded paper "Maybe I'll go mess with Natsu"

"Too late he's on the run from Erza" Eiran noted sighing

Lucy was surprised when the master appeared behind her, before he pulled her into the guild.

By sundown, the guild doors opened as woman with her orange hair in a pun walked into the guild.

"Oh Sophia you're back!" Enno noted "We weren't expecting you back so soon"

"Well I managed to finish it quicker than expected" She stated before she noticed the huddled men by the bar "What's going on?"

"A bunny girl came and you can imagine how all the males went crazy" Enno told her rolling her eyes "with master at the lead"

Sophia held the bridge of her nose, they couldn't behave themselves at all. She walked towards the bar, as the guys made way as soon as they noticed her for her.

"Master, this isn't the place for this!" Sophia told the shorter man, as Lucy noticed the woman and immediately noticed the resemblance with Lia.

Outside in the tent on the side of the road sat Erza and Lia who had finally snapped out of it as they tried translating the book.

More like Erza gave up and Lia was the one trying. What had snapped her out of it was sensing her mother, so she moved her attention to the book as they were noticed by the younger Erza, Erza started talking to her younger self, before coming back.

Lia stood up by evening shocked after understanding the book. "We're in trouble!" She told Erza. "We need to find everyone now!"

They started running in town, they found Lucy and explained the situation before they eventually found Gray and Happy although Erza took a more violent approach and threw the book at them with enough force to knock them to the ground.

"I don't think you needed to do that" Lia said sweat dropping, noting to never go on a mission with them again.

"What? Natsu's not with you?" Lucy asked

"Natsu is still by the riverbank." Gray informed them "What's with those costumes"

"This is bad!" Lia noted "We're almost out of time"

"We need to find Natsu and Fast!" Lucy said "If we don't, we won't be able to get back to our own time!"

The younger Lia was walking by the riverside gloomily, she had gathered all her courage earlier this morning to confess to the guy she had a crush on, he was a friend she had made who worked with his father at the book shop. He had turned her down, stating that even though they were friends, he wouldn't be able to date a mage.

She had figured he thought them too vulgar, lots of people thought that how mages were, so she had decided to take a walk to clear her head.

She didn't expect though to find Natsu getting attacked by a stranger, "Explosion!" She used her spell to surprise the stranger and push him back.

"LIA!" The crying younger Natsu ran towards her hiding behind her, but when she saw the Strange group of people running towards them, she sensed the huge amount of magic coming from them she took Natsu's hand and they started running.

Lia along with the others started running towards Natsu, before the jumped on him just as the time ran out.

The younger Lia stopped pulling Natsu when she sensed the huge amount of magic that came and went, she looked back to see the group of people gone.

"What the…" She started before turning to the sniffling Natsu, he was holding a hand to the scratch on his neck, while holding his scarf in the same hand she was holding.

She used her magic to remove part the sleeves on her jacket and made them into a bandage which she tied around his neck.

In year x784

"Then Natsu's scar was made by himself?" Mira asked as they sat at table in the guild, they had made it back safely.

"I guess so." Gray stated

"How anti-climactic" Lucy said

"But thank goodness we got back." Happy said

"Yeah, you're right." Erza agreed

"And that we didn't cause any huge change to the past" Lia added

"I wonder why is such a rogue book in the guild?" Erza asked as Lia sweat dropped having an idea who might be behind this book.

"Oh yeah, what happened to the book?" Lucy asked

"I don't know" Erza said "It was gone when we got back."

"It's a onetime use" Lia said "It probably just disappeared since its magic was used up"

"That's too bad." Lucy said "That book is really dangerous, but we could have used it to alter the past. Such amazing magic!"

"We don't need to do that." Gray said "Because of our past, we have become who we are today. Those times, those moments have made each of us into what we are now."

"You're right." Lucy agreed

"You can actually say some deep stuff" Lia stated

"Okay, guys. Let's finish cleaning up the storage." Mira said as Natsu complained.


	12. Guild events

**AN: just wanted to get this chapter out of the way, it's pretty boring I know but the next one we star Edolas arc :D**

Raine and Lia were on a mission right now, they had the job of finding a gang of thieves that were terrorizing a nearby town.

Raine and Lia stood back to back in the warehouse where they found them, they were surrounded by twenty or so men.

"Think you can handle it?" Lia asked Raine, she was trying to have the younger girl be able to depend on herself if she can.

"I think so" Raine replied as she took a light red orb rune from her pouch "Bearer of the rune of Fehu, Freyja I summon thee"

A woman appeared that had the men gawking appeared. The woman had long black hair, fair skin, black eyes, she had light makeup on and wore a long evening length light red dress, that had a slit on the right that showed her right leg, along with a sweetheart neck cut that showed her chest. Along with red heals.

"To be summoned among those filth" The woman stated sighing with a disgusted look "The things I do for you Raine" Magic gathered around the woman's hand before waving her hand in an arc. The men were immediately pushed back by an invisible force. Freyja after all possessed Psychic magic.

Lia looked around grinning, Raine had joined the fight and was using her two chakrams to fight. Lia just watched sometimes attacking men who decided to target her, Raine was handling herself and didn't need Lia's help.

"Good job" Lia told her once she and her spirit had handled the situation.

"It was nothing" Raine blushed scratching her cheek, while Freyja scoffed.

"Next time summon me somewhere that's classier" The spirit said before going back to her realm and both Lia and Raine sweat dropped.

In town Venus was skipping around happily a she held a violin case in her hands, she had found a music instrument shop in magnolia and just managed to get a violin after saving money from her jobs.

It was evening as she hummed happily while making her way back to the guild, Wendy was walking beside her along with Carla.

"You really happy about this!" Wendy commented as Venus grinned

"It's been a long while since I had one!" Venus told her "I love playing with my magic, but the actual thing is so much better!"

"Well, your music is beautiful, don't you agree Carla?" Wendy said

"I still have ways to go, but…" She then made a pose while pointing forward "My goal is to master all the musical instruments out there!"

"Oh!" Wendy stared at the girl. "I will cheer you on, Venus!"

"What about you Wendy?" Venus turned to the girl "What do you want so much?!"

"umm…I guess I want to find Grandeeny" Wendy told her

"I will cheer you on too, Wendy!" Venus told the girl before they both smiled.

A few days later, everyone gathered in the guild even, Sol and Romeo were there given that it was a day off.

"Listen up, all of you!" Makarov called "As a mage you must never neglect your training! Constantly strive to better your skills and complete the job you have taken on, so as to earn your keep for the days to come; that is our practice. With sunny days there will also come rainy ones. While there will be days where you will fulfill your tasks with ease, there will also be days where you must struggle to succeed.

No matter the case, tomorrow will always come again. And we as mages must continue to proceed forward. This is what makes us mages of Fairy Tail!" He finished raising his hand in the signal known in the guild. As Lia smiled thinking about Laxus, since he was the one to come up with it. All of the guild raised their hands as well.

"All of you have done a fine job this year!" He continued "As a reward for all that hard work, tomorrow is finally the day…the flower appreciation day we've all been looking forward to!" Most of the guild cheered "Let's have a pre-celebration today! Drink up, drink up!"

"Everyone, please keep in mind that the real event is tomorrow, so make sure to take it easy today." Mira tried reminding them

"What'd ya mean by drink up cause it's flower appreciation day?" Cana asked holding a beer barrel. "Aren't you taking it a little too far?"

"You're sure one to talk!" Macao stated

"It's pretty much flower appreciation day all year around for her." Wakaba added.

"Just leave some for us Cana" Eiran stated laughing as he sat with Macao and Wakaba.

On another table, Lia sat with the thunder tribe.

"Come on, try one drink, at least today" Ever tried to push the Orange head to drink who finally sighed accepting the beer mug from her.

"This might be fun" Bickslow stated. He and Ever were both hoping that Lia would get easily drunk so they could mess with her.

Freed knew if their plans came to pass, Lia would kill them when she was sober.

She drank the thing and it burned her throat slightly. "Actually it's not so bad"

Raine and Sol both stood at the bar talking with Mira, with the younger boy eventually running of as he and Romeo started playing around.

Venus and Wendy had tagged along with team Natsu for a mission though.

By the end of the day the entire guild was drunk and messing around, Lia did get drunk eventually although with how tolerant she apparently was she lasted longer than Bickslow and Evergreen who were both sprawled on the ground. Eiran ended having to carry her home.

Who the next day woke up with the worst headache.

"Reminder to myself to moderately drink" She noted as she internally cursed the sun for being bright.

Eventually she was dragged out of bed by her excited housemates and the four of them headed to the picnic location.

They were in awe at the beautiful cheery blossom trees. They sat with the thunder tribe along with Eiran who arrived later.

"Beautiful!" Raine, Sol and Venus said as she stared around her while they were eating

"There's still the rainbow cherry blossom tree tonight you know" Ever stated.

"And now it's time for our annual flower appreciation bingo competition" Mira stated as they all held their bingo cards, the entire guild cheered.

"We've got a grand lineup of prizes for this year too!" Makarov told them "Give it your best shot!"

"Is everybody ready?" Mira asked

"Aye sir" They all replied

And they started the game, none of the people sitting at their mat managed to win in bingo. But it was still a joyful day, Lia was enjoying drinking with the guild and they were surprised at how she could hold.

Venus played them music and even sang along this time, before she and Wendy sat together.

Even Raine felt like she's been part of the guild for a long while with how everyone had helped her settle in. Although by the end the magnolia rainbow cheery blossom tree somehow ended up on a boat in the canal.

Lia and Eiran disappeared from the guild for the next two weeks, the former saying she needed to get back to training and the latter being taken to help her.

Raine ended up eventually moving out after finding a place she can afford, she couldn't go to fairy hills because she had Sol with her, and was now usually going on missions along with one or entire thunder tribe, sometimes she even tagged along with other members of the guild. Right now, she was away on a mission with Evergreen.

Venus was getting used to things around here, and after asking Lia before she left two weeks ago who happily agreed she was now going to live in their house together and she wasn't going to move out.

When they did show up at the guild, Lia had her on the bar exhausted while Eiran just drank normally beside her.

"Lia are you okay?" Wendy asked worried as she the woman was almost still.

"Don't worry, she just exhausted" Eiran informed the younger girl "She was training too hard"

"You really are a monster" Venus whispered as she remembered going against the guy.

"Then shouldn't she be resting at home?" Carla asked

"She needs to eat after all, here you go Lia" Mira stated as she placed a food plate for the girl who while shaking sat up and started eating. "You really should pace yourself"

"Can't…remembered…endurance…race…can't end up…last!" Lia stated words, too tired to form a sentence.

"Race?" Wendy wondered confused as she looked towards Carla and Venus who shrugged.

The next day, all the guild gathered at the park, Lia was back to full energy as she stretched. She was wearing a short sleeved yellow shirt with the fairytail mark on it and knee length track pants and running shoes, with her hair pulled into a ponytail.

Raine was in her regular cloth and so was Eiran, as he stood beside Lia.

Venus and Wendy and Carla stood together a little confused.

"So cool!" Jason, the reporter from sorcerer weekly yelled in the mic "It's that time of year again! This grand event is here! Fairy Tail's traditional All-wizards Mandatory participation 24 hours' road race!"

"Can't lose this now!" Lia stated as she stood beside Eiran

"Dream on, princess!" Eiran said "There's no chance you can beat me in this"

They both focused on Jet though who had been winning the race since he had joined the guild.

"Good luck" Lia told them smirking "But you will be eating my dust!"

"Why is everyone so revved up?" Raine asked as she stood beside Freed

"They don't want to come last" He explained "The last place always gets handed a punishment that's too scary to describe" seeing the look on his face Raine couldn't help but be afraid.

"Quiet everyone!" Master shouted from a stage "All member of Fairy Tail! A wizard is one with both strengths of mind and body! I wish for you to utilize those powers to the utmost in today's competition!

The rules are simple! You will run as fast as you can from the start line, then here along the appointed course, heading for Mt. Ivor! This year, I have left Wyvern scales at the top of Mt. Ivor! You will take one of these scales and return here within 24 hours!

I won't accept any dropouts. If you are a Fairy Tail wizard, then you will run the distance, all the way to your next job tomorrow! Furthermore, I am imposing a new regulation this year at the urging of many…Flying magic is forbidden!" both Evergreen and Happy froze "Also to make sure things as fair as possible…Teleportation magic is also forbidden!" Lia froze as Eiran smirked "Other than that, any type of magic is allowed!

And of course, the person who comes in last will face a punishment of which there is nothing scarier on the planet!"

"This new rule isn't fair" Lia muttered to herself darkly

"I wonder who's going to be eating who's dust" Eiran stated smirking

"Now…It's finally time for the start!" Jason stated through the mic as everyone got ready "Everyone to the start line"

"Ready!" Master stated "Bam!" as soon as he said the magical word Jet ran so fast that everyone behind him flew back.

"Destroy!" Lia used her magic so she wouldn't get hit and started running herself behind him "Body enchant: Celero!" she ran at a faster rate maybe not as fast as Jet but she already had a head start.

After her was Natsu who was using his fire to push him forward.

"This is not fair" Eiran said as he started running with everyone.

"If all magic is allowed, Rune cast: Dagaz" Raine said holding a piece of wood with a rune on it "Form of the inner spirit" She was now a medium sized pink fox with three tails as she ran past everyone easily eventually making it to fourth place.

"I didn't know she could do that!" Ever yelled as she tried to keep up.

"Let's go Wendy!" Venus cheered as the two girls and Carla started running.

By the time they were out of town everyone started to use their magic to make the others fall.

"Crystal shackles!" Eiran yelled as he punched the floor managing to capture the legs of a few members as they floor planted and he went past them.

Being at the front both Jet and Lia we're out of range for the others to use magic on them, on the other hand Raine was caught in Gray's ice floor as she started sliding and tried to balance herself.

Lia did end up rotating around herself when she was hit by the returning Jet and fell to the ground dizzy. She shook her head and started running again making it to the mountain by sundown.

She picked up the scale and sat down breathing hard.

"Even with my enchantment it's not any easier" Lia muttered as her legs felt like jelly, I need to rest for a bit.

"Won't…face…scary…punishment" Raine was back into human and was muttering between breath. She had decided to save the rest of her magic for the trip back.

"Almost there" Eiran stated as he almost reached the mountain after the sun has set.

Lia had come running down the same time he was climbing. "Body enchant: Celero!" She recasted the spell to give her a boost.

It has been 12 hours now since the start and everyone were almost at their limits.

Both Lia and Eiran were side by side now, with Lia's spell keeping her at normal speed considering her stamina was out of the window.

"Not…gonna…lose…to…you" Lia told him between breath.

"Dream…on…little…sis" He retorted back at her and it was anyone's guess how they found the energy to bicker.

Erza made it past them but they were to focused on each other to notice.

Raine was in her fox form, running beside Lucy, Gray and Gajeel behind them.

Dawn eventually broke as Lia, Eiran, Gray and Gajeel were competing, while Natsu had went ahead and Raine and Lucy had fallen behind.

Somehow it ended up with Lia, Eiran, Gajeel, Natsu, Erza and Jet competing for first place.

"Come on!" Lia shouted as she pushed herself for last spurt "Body enchant: Celero!" She managed to make it a little past them but they easily caught up, with Erza wearing a bunny suit.

They were all neck to neck, even when Natsu's magic ran out he kept going.

"Victory is mine!" The seven of them yelled when they were close to the finish line.

That dream went soaring out of the window when Natsu tripped hitting Gajeel and they fell like domino pieces' inches from the finish line.

"Happy?" Natsu asked surprised as the blue cat ran past them and crossed the finish line taking first place.

They all cheered him while the two dragon slayers and the ice mage were surprised, Erza and Jet were okay with it, when Eiran turned to talk to Lia he noticed she was missing.

"Coming in Second is Lia!" Jason cheered in the mic as Eiran watched surprised as the other five, Raine made it past them in her fox form as well

"Coming in third place is Raine!" He announced

The rest of the guild followed leaving behind the remaining six to the side, although Erza and Eiran were quick to react and cross the line as well.

"I won" Lia told Eiran smugly all she cared about was beating him and not ending up in last place

"Shut up!" He told her a little embarrassed he went from competing for first place to barely making it.

"We should try our best next year!" Venus cheered with Wendy beside her who nodded agreeing.

Natsu, Gajeel, Gray and Jet ended crossing the line at the same time, so tied for last place.

They all pitied them when they heard the punishment, while the master looked pleased he had more victims. They did end up trying to run away though.


	13. Edolas

A few days later everyone was around the guild, Lia was enjoying a drink at the bar.

"You've gotten addicted" Eiran noted

"It's good" She stated as she put down the jug. She was wearing a red Sheath dress that hug her body and ended at her knees with ankle length black boots, with her hair down.

"Big news!" Max and Warren came shouting through the guild doors. And immediately followed by the ringing of the bells.

"Looks like he's back" Eiran stated grinning

"At least the shift hasn't changed" Lia stated smiling "He's been gone for three years right?"

Eiran nodded. "Think he'll recognize you?"

"Not a chance he's as absent minded as you" Lia stated chuckling "Even if he's my godfather"

Lia's mother, Sophia and Gildarts were old friends so it wasn't surprising that when Lia was born, Sophia made the man Lia's godfather.

"Gildarts!" The entire guild cheered for his return. As Lia and Eiran both went towards the guild doors beside Mira.

"Gildarts? I've never met him. Who is he?" Lucy asked as Raine, Venus, Wendy and Carla came as well.

"He's Fairy Tail's Strongest wizard" Mira told her

"Wait even stronger than Erza?" The blonde asked

"I'm not even in his league" Erza stated

"How dangerous can this guy get?" Lucy asked.

"I don't even think if Mira, Erza and I combine our powers that we would come close to him" Eiran stated as Lucy freaked out more.

"I am just glad he came back safe" Lia stated "Especially from a job like that"

"But why the celebration? And what job?" Lucy asked

"It's like a festival, Carla!" Wendy stated

"Well Fairy Tail always finds a reason to celebrate" Raine stated

"At least it's more the reason to practice new music" Venus stated happily

"It's only natural for everyone to celebrate" Mira told them "It's been about three years since he came back"

"Three years? What was he doing?" Lucy asked

"There are quests more difficult than S class, called SS class." Mira explained "But there are jobs even above those, called ten-year quests."

"Ten-year quests?" Lucy wondered

"No one has completed them for more than ten years." Erza explained "That's why they're called ten-year quests."

"From what I heard he went on an even more difficult one, a 100-years quest, didn't he?" Lia told her, Erza nodded in confirmation, as Lucy was startled.

"Hundred-year quest?" Lucy asked startled "No one has managed to complete it for a hundred years?!"

"Right." Erza confirmed

"People don't usually comeback from this quests alive" Eiran stated hands in pocket "Goes to show how strong he is"

"Magnolia will now change to Gildarts shift!" Came the speaker voices from outside "Residents, please move to the designated areas!"

"Even so, isn't this going a bit overboard?" Carla asked as Lia shook her head and chuckled.

"I wonder…" Wendy said

"If you knew the guys you would know precautions were needed." Eiran told her

"What is Magnolia's 'Gildarts shift' ?" Lucy asked, as Raine approached as well confused

"You'll know if you look outside." Erza told them.

Lucy, Venus, Raine, Wendy and Carla headed outside and they were shocked when they saw the town split, and a path formed straight to the guild entrance.

"Gildarts uses Crash magic" Erza Explained

"One wrong move and we would end up with a full of holes Magnolia" Lia stated chuckling. "And his mind wanders a lot, more when he just came back from a job"

"How much of an idiot is he?" Asked Lucy "So, the entire city was reconstructed with this in mind?!"

"That's amazing! Isn't it, Carla?" Wendy asked

"Yes. Amazingly stupid." Carla replied

"I think it takes mind wandering to a new level" Venus said chuckling

"Well he can't be a bad guy if everyone's glad to see him, can he?" Raine wondered

"You're really excited, Lia!" Freed stated walking beside her as she nodded

"Of course I am!" She retorted as her friends chuckled at her. As the Guild waited for the man and he eventually wandered in. He looked around confused, huffing.

"Gildarts, fight me!" Natsu shouted as he came down.

"Welcome back!" Mira greeted him

"Miss, I was pretty sure there was a guild named Fairy Tail around here…" He said as Lia sweat dropped

"This is it. Oh, and I'm Mirajane." Mira told him

"Mira?" He questioned "Oh! You've really changed! And wow, the guild is brand-new!"

"Hey, Gildarts!" Eiran called as he and Lia walked towards the older man.

"Eiran, right?" He asked as Eiran nodded "and…" His eyes shifted to Lia

"Lia!" She told him as his eyes widened

"But how…" He asked before shaking his head "Look at you all grown up!" He decided to save the questions for later.

"Welcome back!" She greeted him "You haven't changed a bit"

"Gildarts!" Natsu called

"Natsu, is it? Been a while!" Gildarts said as Natsu jumped at him

"I told you to fight me!" Natsu shouted, Gildarts rotated him and threw him at the roof.

"Maybe another time!" He replied "There are faces I never seen before…Things sure have changed…"

"Gildarts!" Makarov called him from where he was sitting at the bar

"Oh, Master! Long time no see." Gildarts greeted

"How did the job go?" He asked him as Gildarts laughed

"No good. It's impossible for me." He stated surprising most people, as murmurs rose from everyone.

"It hasn't been completed for 100 years for a reason" Lia stated as Eiran agreed

"I see. Even you couldn't handle it?" Master asked

"Sorry, this'll be bad for our reputation." Gildarts apologized

"No, I'm just happy you came back safe and sound." Master replied "You're the first one I know that's ever come back from this quest alive." Causing the man to grin.

"I wanna get some rest, so I'm heading home." He stated "Man, I'm beat…Natsu! Come to my place later. I've brought souvenirs! Now pardon me!" He walked through the guild's wall as Lia sweat dropped.

Natsu ended up imitating him and destroying the wall as well.

Lia stretched before deciding to go on a job, she ended up picking one that would take about a day.

The next day, everything was going normally, although most of the guild were inside since it was raining heavily, Venus had stayed at home deciding to take the time to practice her magic. Raine sat with the thunder tribe talking.

Eiran and Cana were watching the bar and serving customers, considering the anniversary of Lisanna's death was coming up so Mira and Elfman both started to head to church.

Although Cana was just drinking while Eiran did the work. "Cana since you volunteered, leave the barrel alone and help" He told the brunette as he rolled his eyes.

Everything was normal to the point where the town and the guild were sucked into the sky.

Lia was walking towards magnolia coming back from the job she went on yesterday; a cloak was around her to shield her from the rain. She stopped when the air went still around her as she sensed the strong magic coming from further ahead. She started running towards Magnolia.

"Body enchant: Celero!" She used her magic to gain speed, before stopping suddenly with her eyes wide.

Where Magnolia was supposed to be was just dust, with bubbles floating around her. Even the rain had stopped in the area. She looked up at where the strange magic she sensed was coming from.

"What the hell happened?" She muttered to herself as she ran into the area trying to find any survivors, stopping once she sensed someone familiar.

Mystogan came into view walking towards her, he looked surprised to see she wasn't sucked in with the others.

"Mystogan!" She called running towards the mage "What happened?"

The mage had his mask down showing his face.

"The town and the guild were sucked into another world called Edolas" He told Lia, He explained about the other world and how it was like a parallel of this one but magic didn't flow freely there.

That's why they made the Anima, a way to suck magic from other world, which is what happened here.

"So everyone has been turned to magic Lacrima and are in another world and their magic will be absorbed for the sake of that world?" She asked him seeing if she got it right "How selfish can you get?" She was annoyed and furious "How do we save them?"

"Take this first" He told her as he opened a small bottle and threw a red pill towards her, deciding to trust him she swallowed it "It will allow you to use magic in the other world, I am going to send you there through the portal but I will stay here to look for survivors, also I already sent Lucy ahead"

"Alright, I will make sure to locate them and I will find a way to bring them back" Lia said as he held his staff and used his magic on her.

"I am counting on you, Lia…" He said

"Right back at you" She replied as the light surrounded her and she was sent through the portal.

When she opened her eyes, she was on the ground on the top of a cliff. She stood up her cloak from earlier was still wet so she used her magic to pull the water from it.

She was wearing the red tank top along with a light brown leather jacket and long dark brown pants and black ankle length boots, With the brown cloak over them. Checking to find her messenger bag was secured.

"There are really almost no magic in the air" She muttered as she sensed around her "I will have to be careful with my magic" She decided to walk towards where she sensed some people, instead of sensing for magic she was sensing for different particles. It was harder since she wasn't used to it but with the lack of magic around her, it was the only way.

She did manage to make it into a town eventually, given the town had rundown buildings with dangerous looking people but it was still town.

Another thing she had realized on her way was it was better to hide her face, after all Mystogan who was probably Edolas's Jellal, would have been considered a criminal in their world considering who Jellal was, so she had no idea who her Edolas self were in this world. So she made sure her hood was covering her face well as she walked through town, she was looking around her for anything that resembled a bar, if she was sure of anything it was no matter what world, information could be gathered at bars.

She didn't make it far though, when she was immediately surrounded by three men.

"Oi give us your money and anything you have on you" One of them stated he was the biggest of the three and shadowed easily over her "and we might just be nice enough to let you pass."

"Since you decided to be so kind as to give me information" Lia stated as she looked up at the man with a glare that surprised him, no one should get in her way when it concerns her friends "I have a few questions, if you answer I might just go easy on you"

The man smirked "A woman, huh? Looks like we're having ourselves some fun tonight boys" He stated as the other two chuckled.

"Body enchant: Celero! Robur!" She muttered as her body glowed before appearing in front of the man quickly and delivering a punch that sent him flying backwards. The other two froze not believing what happened. "So boys, mind telling me if a magic Lacrima was seen around?"

They shook their head before both of them came at her, Lia dodged without using her teleportation spell. She kicked one of them into the other one.

"I think Eiran would be proud" She muttered in the week he had kidnapped him to help her train she had focused on her physical strength and hand to hand combat, which was the last thing she had started training in before the four years. She walked to the bigger guy who had hit a building earlier and was shaking his head to remove the dizziness.

Lia gripped him from the collar of his shirt. "So like I asked have a magic Lacrima appeared anywhere?" She hadn't noticed her hood was now down as the man stared in fright.

"I don't know, I am sorry we attacked you, Lady Lia" The man was shaking, Lia came to the conclusion that her Edolas self was probably someone important or someone scary or maybe both. "But if there's magic it's most likely in the royal capital"

She let go of him "Do you have a map I can borrow?" The man shook his head "Which direction is the capital?"

"North" He stuttered as he pointed in the said direction as she sighed and walked away, raising her hood. "I am not that scary, the guy wouldn't hold for a second if he saw Erza" She muttered to herself.

She walked in the said direction, she was glad she still had some water and food with her from what she packed for her job.

She sat in the forest resting and eating a bit to regain her energy. When she felt it she teleported out of the place she was sitting as two knives were stuck in the tree she was sitting at.

"Come out!" She yelled looking in the direction she could sense the person; her hood was still up hiding her identity.

"I really don't appreciate imposters" The voice said as the person came into view, Lia's eyes widened. "What are you after pretending to be me?"

In royal city of Edolas, in the palace.

"Whoa!" Exclaimed one of the three people walking "Check out that giant lacrima!"

"I saw when it got here, Hughes." Replied the red head, she Edolas's Erza. "It's quite pretty, yes."

"That's like tens of thousands of Earthland people's magic!" Hughes said.

"More precisely, one should say, it's the magical power of about 100 wizards" Replied Sugar boy "Plus a great deal of other living things."

"Don't sweat the details, Sugar Boy!" Hughes told him "What I was tryin' to say was how it was like, whoa!"

"You should learn to speak properly, Hughes" A female voice said startling the said man as the woman stepped out of the shadows in the corridor. She was a tall slender woman, with her blonde hair gathered in side ponytail, with bangs framing the left side of her face while her right she had her bags behind her ear.

She wore a strapless white crop top with a black corset over it, and shoulder metal plates, along with black shorts and thigh plates, and knee length black boots.

Covering the upper part of her face was a masquerade mask showing only her blue eyes showing.

"Don't scare me like that Venus" Hughes retorted.

Hughes was the captain of the third magic regiment of the royal army. Similarly, Sugar boy was the captain of the fourth magic regiment of the royal army, as well Venus Wintershade was the captain of the fifth magic regiment of the royal army, finally Erza Knightwalker led the second magic regiment of the royal army.

"When I say 'whoa', it ain't like, kinda whoa." Hughes started again as the four of them started walking "It's like, whoa whoa."

"Whoa, indeed." Sugar boy agreed

"What matters is the fact it will provide more than enough magic for us" Venus said

"You just make things dull, Venus" Hughes said beside her

"Miss Erza, have you not yet done in Fairy Tail?" A voice asked behind them

"Byro" Erza noted

"You're starting to give the designation 'Fairy Hunter a bad name…" Byro told her, he was the chief of staff of the royal army. "The only guild left is now Fairy Tail. Well, they are the guild that run the fastest. But our highness will be expecting results soon."

"Don't be hasty. The day our goddess catches her Fairy prey will come soon." Sugar boy replied

"That's right!" Hughes agreed "Erza's sword is like, whoa, man! Whoa!"

"It's inevitable, for the flies to be crushed, no matter how much the buzz" Venus agreed as Byro laughed

"Stop laughing in that freaky manner, Byro" said a large exceed walking towards them

"Panther Lily" Erza said

"I do not like those with loud mouths." Lily said "That includes you, Hughes." He was the captain of the first magic regiment of the royal army.

"What, me too?" Hughes asked "I bet you think this is more like, whoa, than any of us!"

"We all think it, but we don't make too much noise Hughes" Venus told him

"Shut your mouth for a bit." Lily told him

"Not in a good mood, Lily?" Sugar boy asked him causing him to tusk before walking past them.

"He doesn't seem pleased with the recent military buildup." Erza noted

"He should have welcomed it as a military man…" Sugar boy added

"However, our kingdom basically encompasses the entire world." Erza said "It is true that there is no obvious reason for a further strengthen of the army."

"Isn't it because there are still a few pockets of resistance?" Sugar boy asked

"If that were it, we alone would easily suffice." Erza replied

"It doesn't matter the reason" Venus told them "If it's the king's orders we should gladly follow it, not be upset about it"


	14. The one and not the only!

Edolas Lia stood in front of her with a knife gripped in her hand, orange long hair gathered in a loose ponytail, she was wearing a grey leather sleeveless halter top, black gloves, with black leggings and black mid-calf boots.

"Well I am you…in a sense" Lia told her as she removed her hood, surprising Edolas Lia, but Edolas Lia didn't show that surprise she just narrowed her eyes as the gears in her head turned.

Lia and Edo Lia sat on the ground as Lia finished explaining where she came from and why she was here.

"It's a hard to believe story" Edo Lia muttered "And I thought she was messing with me back then…"

Lia frowned not understanding and Edo Lia didn't seem like she was going to explain.

"And you say your world's Fairy Tail are that giant Lacrima, that appeared in the capital?" Edo Lia asked

"Probably" Lia answered "Is there a Fairy Tail here too?" Lia concluded given she was staring at her mirror image right now.

"Yeah, used to be a member in it too" Edo Lia told her "Since magic is prohibited, they're a dark guild, anyway I was heading towards the capital myself, if it's as you say, I will help"

Lia raised an eyebrow but stood never the less as Edo Lia stood up as well. "It's just a four days' journey from here" Edo Lia told her as Lia hummed in agreement and both started walking

"If you don't mind me asking, why leave Fairy Tail?" Lia asked

"Felt like it" Edo Lia told her shrugging but Lia saw her reach for her left hand and the slight stiffness.

"So what do you do then?" She asked "Those guys back at the village were terrified when they saw my face."

"I gather information" She told her "Even if by force and then distribute it to certain people" Lia raised her eyebrow at the half truth.

"You almost made two holes in me back there" Lia told her dead panning "Is being an informant all there is to it?"

"The less you know the better" Edo Lia told her dangerously, with a look that could rival Erza's "Now stop being nosy"

"I am just curious" Lia told her shrugging "Beside you can't tell you don't want to ask about my world?"

"I do but I have something called restraint" Edo Lia replied not sparing her a glance

"Ask away if you want" Lia told her "From what I can tell so far, there's so many differences. For one you don't have magic in your bodies"

"And you do?" Edo Lia asked surprised "The only one here like that are the exceed"

"It's the normal in our world and what are exceed?" Lia asked

"They are considered gods here, but in my opinion they are just cats with wings" Edo Lia replied as Lia immediately thought of Happy and Carla which immediately made her remember a certain blonde.

"Oh god" Lia stopped in her tracks "According to Mystogan he already sent a friend of mine here, I need to find her" She had already told Edo Lia about Mystogan when she explained, Edo Lia turned towards her.

"Who is she?" She asked her hands on her hip.

"Lucy, she's a blonde, brown eyes, about this ta…" Lia was describing when Edo Lia hushed her

"I know how blondie looks" Edo Lia grumbled "I should have expected you probably know most of the people I know" She sighed "Well, I did hear about Lucy getting spotted in Louen, I thought it was the Lucy I knew but it might be your friend, so let's check it out"

Lia nodded as they walked the rest of the way exchanging questions and answers, it was obvious Edo Lia had a curiosity like Lia. Eventually they moved to the topic about what Edo Lia knew about the Lacrima, which wasn't much, just that it was in royal city.

Lia found out that the town she was last in was Louen, and the town they were heading for now was Sycca. According to Edo Lia with Lucy getting spotted in Louen, there was no way she was still there, that she had probably left the town since the guards would be looking for her.

Lia figured Lucy would do the same thing since staying in a place where guards were chasing you wouldn't be the smartest plans.

They reached that town by night and found a hotel room to stay in, after showering both sat down to discuss their next move. Lia appreciated the fact she could stop using her sensing since it was draining her out to sense for everything.

"I'm heading out to find some info on Lucy" Edo Lia told her empathizing the 'I'. "You stay here"

The tone used made Lia nod and obey as Edo Lia got up to leave they heard noise from one of the rooms.

"Don't go around prancing in a towel!" The voice shrieked loudly, but even though Lia recognized it.

"That sounds like Lucy" Edo Lia was the one to state, another thing was shouted but not as loudly as before. Until Lucy shrieked again.

"Care, damn it!" Lucy shrieked loudly, Lia tried to sense for magic and caught them.

"That's definitely Lucy…Happy and Carla" Lia said as she focused again "Natsu and Wendy too, and if they have magic they're definitely from my world"

"Talk about luck" Edo Lia muttered "Let's go!"

They both made their way towards the room where the voices where coming from. The room was just one door down.

"What, Natsu? Wanna peek?" Lia heard Lucy asked from the other side

"Please, stop it!" Lia heard Lucy reply which made her and her Edolas self freeze.

"Don't tell me…" Edo Lia started face palming "Tell me Earthland Lucy have a multiple personality disorder"

"No, she doesn't" Lia replied chuckling nervously as she was about to knock but Edo Lucy pushed her out of the way and started fumbling with the lock.

"You know you don't have to…" Lia started but was interrupted by Edo Lia declaring she got it as she opened the door.

Both Lia stared at the group inside, Natsu, Wendy, Happy and Carla sat on the couch while, three Lucy, two in towels and one actually dressed stood in front of them.

"Hey guys" Lia greeted nervously as Edo Lia stood beside her.

After Lucy and Edo Lucy got dressed, Lia told them what happened since she came back to Magnolia and then got sent here.

"Mystogan told me he sent you ahead, so I though finding you would be best" Lai finished to Lucy, she was using her magic sense to recognize her from Edo Lucy who had no magic in her.

"Can you use magic too Lia?" Wendy asked her as she nodded

"Didn't Mystogan give you the pills?" Lia asked them as they explained that Mystogan didn't send them here.

"So that's why I can use magic?" Lucy wondered as Lia nodded

"Do you have any extra?" Carla asked her

"No, sorry, you'll have to just rely on Lucy and I" Lia told them, meanwhile, Edo Lia and Edo Lucy were caught in a glaring competition.

"But you two look exactly alike two" Natsu noted looking between the two Lia "and even though, there's only two of you it's still hard to tell you apart" He said to the two Lucy.

Edo Lucy looked away from Edo Lia and turned to Lucy "If I remember right, there was a spirit that could change your hairstyle, right?"

"Right, Let's ask the spirit of the crab!" Lucy replied summoning cancer

"It's nice to see you again-ebi" He said, Edo Lia hid her amazement behind an uncaring mask.

"He's a crab spirit, but ends his sentences with -ebi?" Edo Lucy pointed

"I knew you'd point that out!" Lucy said "You go, me!" Cancer gave Edo Lia a haircut, as her hair was left really short.

"Would you like to change your hairstyle too-ebi?" Cancer asked Edo Lia who glared at him

"Touch my hair…you die" She threatened him as he retreaded back and the rest sweat dropped at her.

"Are you sure it's okay being this short?" Lucy asked Edo Lucy

"Is there a custom on Earthland about taking care of your hair, too?" Edo Lucy asked

"Well, all girls think like that-ebi." Cancer told her

"It's one of the few girly things most girls share" Lia agreed

"Girls, huh?" Edo Lucy wondered and she and Lia shared a look before Lia looked away, Edo Lucy walked to the window "You'd just be stupid to think of being a boy or a girl in this world…We've got enough to handle just surviving…"

"But everyone looked like they were having fun…" Happy noted

"It's Fairy Tail's favorite game…called pretending the world is made of sunshine and rainbows" Edo Lia said sourly crossing her hands and leaning against the wall

"If we didn't force ourselves to keep laughing, our hearts would break just like that…" Edo Lucy replied "Plus, there are people who still need us, even in this world" before turning a look towards Edo Lia "So, even if we're now 'Dark', we've got to keep the guild going"

Lia smiled at that while Edo Lia tusked.

"But I guess that by itself isn't going to cut it…" Edo Lucy added surprising Edo Lia who caught on her words "Never mind…"

Everyone turned in for the night, as Lia and Edo Lia returned to their room, they both lied in their respective beds.

"Hey…" Edo Lia called although she sounded nervous "In your world, how is Laxus and Eiran?"

"They're okay, Eiran and I go on jobs all the time, he should be in that Lacrima with the others" Lia told her "Laxus though, I think he's okay, he was expelled for something he did and he's traveling around."

"Good to know, in this world they're dead" Edo Lia told her

Lia sat up looking at her counterpart who had her left hand above her and with the gloves still on for whatever reason. "Is that why you left Fairy Tail?"

"Partially" She replied "Mostly because it's a guild full of wimps"

"It didn't sound like that" Lia told her "Lucy said they were trying to survive…to keep the guild going"

"That's not enough!" She replied sharply "What's the point of surviving, just for the sake of staying alive? What's the point to just keep running? If they don't fight nothing changes!"

With the awkward silence between them, Lia took a breath.

"You know back in Earthland; I just came back to the guild a little over a month ago" Lia told her before chuckling "For some reason it feels like it's been longer though"

"You left the guild before too?" Edo Lia asked seeming interested

"No…not exactly" Lia told her "Four years ago, I went on a job and I don't know what happened on my way back from it, but I ended up going missing for four years, and I don't remember what happened in them."

"You haven't found any clues?" Edo Lia asked her "Or you haven't even tried?"

"Haven't tried, honestly I am trying to just forget it" Lia admitted

"Not thinking about the problem won't make it go away" She told Lia "You're as wimpy as those Fairy taileres here"

"Maybe it won't go away, but do I really want to find out?" Lia said "Even if the memories aren't here, every time I think about it, I feel…" Lia stopped "…broken" She couldn't a find a better word.

"Still…If not for yourself, you owe it to those around you" Edo Lia told her surprising her "To them it's like you came back from the dead, they deserve to know, besides you lost an experience, what hurts usually adds to us, in more ways than one" Edo Lia sat up and looked at Lia "It might not be easy, but what's easy isn't usually worth it"

"So, How were they in this world?" Lia asked changing the subject, if Edo Lia was like her, she would want to talk about them, it helped to talk about the people she lost, or at least it did with her mother.

"Eiran was the best big brother you could ask for; he was always taking care of everyone, cheering everyone on when things got rough" Edo Lia stated with a small sad smile as she remembered the good times "He would joke around and he even finally managed to confess to the girl he loved before he…"

"Looks like Eiran isn't that different from the Eiran in my world" Lia told her smiling

"Laxus though he always annoyed the hell out of me" Edo Lia turned "He would always tease me, and find a way to argue with me, we rarely agreed on anything. But he…" She trailed off remembering him "It's late we better go to sleep" before she turned around looking at the wall without saying anything. Lia laid back down, she couldn't imagine those two dying, she doesn't know how she would feel, if she would be able to even breathe. She made a mental note to try and find Laxus when they went back.

The next day they were in Natsu and the others room, as Lucy informed them that her Edolas self had left before they woke up leaving a note behind.

"About that…" Edo Lia turned to them "I am going to have to leave you too, I will try and meet up with you in the royal city but I have somethings to handle"

"Okay, thanks for bringing me here" Lia told her as Edo Lia turned walking outside,

"you okay with that?" Lucy asked her as Lia nodded

"It's our friends" Lia told her "Despite it all, it has nothing to do with them"

Near Mid-day Edo Lia stopped in a back alley and just waited there, till two figures approached her.

"Gajeel" Edo Lia acknowledged the Gajeel in the suit but looked with shock at the other one.

"Lia meet Gajeel from another world called Earthland" Edo Gajeel introduced.

"Didn't expect the informant to be you" Gajeel noted

Meanwhile, the others walked behind a very happy Lucy who held a book.

"She's already back in high spirits" Happy noted

"She's happy she found that rare book at the bookstore, right?" Wendy said

"It's not rare, just informing" Lia corrected she wanted to read the book too and honestly was excited at the prospect of new knowledge.

"What kind of book did you buy?" Natsu asked

"A book on the history of this world!" She informed him "I bet you guys want to learn about this world too, right?"

"Not really" Natsu said as Lia said "Yup"

"This history book tells everything!" Lucy said holding the book high "This world is fascinating!"

While Lucy went on Lia's attention turned to the gatherings of people, till a sudden shade covered them.

"What's this?" Lucy asked

"That's…!" Carla surprised as they all stared at the sky

"An airship?" Natsu wondered

"And it's definitely belongs to the kingdom" Lia noted as they stared at the guards running in front of them

"It's the royal army!" Lucy noted as Wendy pushed them to hide.

They listened to the guards as they said the magic extraction was the just two days away, just as the airship landed.

"Giant lacrima, they say?" Natsu wondered

"That's everyone from Magnolia…" Wendy said

"They're extracting the magic power two days from now?" Lucy wondered

"And the capital is three days away on foot" Lia said "We won't make it"

"If they start extracting the magic power, everyone will be gone for good." Carla stated

"Can we steal that ship?" Natsu wondered

"Steal it?" Wendy was shocked "That airship?"

"Normally, that's not necessary, right?" Carla wondered "Just sneaking on board should be fine!"

"Well this isn't a normal situation" Lia said agreeing that was there best plan "Besides stealing it means less guards to deal with in the royal city"

"Don't encourage him!" Carla retorted

"And I hate hiding." Natsu added

"It's rare for you to suggest transportation, Natsu…" Happy stated, Natsu chuckled

"As long as I have Wendy's Troia, riding stuff is…" He didn't get to finish as Wendy reminded him that she can't use magic "I take that plan back"

"Well, I vote we do it!" Lucy stated excited "We won't make it otherwise, right?"

"Besides I can help with your motion sickness as soon as we're abroad" Lia added since they didn't have time right now, and the spell took a few minutes to cast

"But how?" Wendy asked

"With my magic!" Lucy stated proudly "You remember, right? I'm the strongest right now!"

"And I have magic too" Lia added sweat dropping at the blonde

"I figured it out when fighting in Louen." Lucy continued "Basically, magic is more advance on Earthland than it is here."

"That's probably true, yeah" Wendy agreed as Lucy came to it Natsu and Happy were talking to Lia

"We're depending on you this time" Natsu said

"Aye" Happy agreed

"Don't ignore me!" Lucy screeched at them.

Lucy came out of hiding running at the guards. "Now, Watch!" She pulled one of her keys "Gate of the Lion, I open thee! Loke!" Although they were shocked when instead of Loke came Virgo. "Huh?"

"I apologize, Princess" Virgo said to the blonde

"Virgo?" Natsu wondered confused

"Princess?" Lia wondered beside him seeing as this was the first time she has seen this spirit; she did have the pleasure of meeting Aquarius though on that one mission she went on with team Natsu.

"Wait, what's going on?" Lucy asked Virgo

"Brother is on a date, and cannot be summoned at the moment." Virgo informed her making Lucy wonder about calling him brother.

"Yes, Leo requested I address him that way earlier." Virgo told her

"He's such an idiot!" Lucy said crying

"The celestial spirt sure are…unique" Lia struggled with words chuckling beside Natsu

"Aye" Happy agreed

"That's Lucy!" The guards shouted bringing them back to reality "Capture her!"

"Crap! I figured that Loke would beat them all!" Lucy said

"Princess…with your permission if I use my full power" Virgo told her "…I can even dance!"

"Definitely unique" Lia sweat dropped before she noted the guards now surrounding them "My turn" Lia aimed her hands at the guards in front of them "Magic missile: Fire!" instead of a number of fire balls there was only one and was easily blocked by their weapons

"What was that?!" Natsu asked her

"Well I usually use the magic around us" She told him "And with no magic here, my attacks are useless" Her weakness had just been amplified

"It's too late!" Lucy panicked "What will we do?!"

"Guess we have no choice, but to play by their rules…" Natsu stated pulling a sword that released fire

"I know how to use it now!" Wendy pulling her own magic weapon

"Forget about attack spells" Lia turned to the guards "Body enchant: Celero! Robur!" The enchantments were cast on her and just as Natsu and Wendy were thrown back, Lia appeared in front of the guards.

She kicked one with a round house kick before teleporting out of the way as another tried to hit her. She kept going attacking and teleporting but with too many guards she was hit and thrown back.

"There's too many" She noted standing up and looking around her, they didn't have an escape root too.

"This is bad! The airship is leaving!" Carla shouted as they watched the airship fly away, they were being apprehended by the guards

"Everyone!" Lia called in worry as she kept trying to resist the guards around her but kept getting surrounded, she wasn't going to run by herself, just as a vehicle approached them at an astonishing speed.

But one thing they noticed about it was the Fairy tail mark on the side, just as it stopped beside them.

"A magic 4-wheeler?" Lucy wondered

"That's Fairy Tail's mark!" Happy noted

"That's…" Lia stared at the driver

"I heard from Lucy. Get in." The driver told them, they all hurried jumping in "We're gonna fly. Don't fall out." Just as the wheels caught on fire and the vehicle moved forward "Go fire!"

Lia, Wendy holding Carla and Natsu were cramped in the back seat while Lucy held Happy sat beside Edo Natsu in the front seat.

"Wow! We escaped just like that!" Happy noted as they were miles out of the city in a matter of no time.

"You saved us…" Lucy told him

"Thank you very much!" Wendy thanked him

"We were in really tight spot back then, thanks!" Lia told him before turning to the sick Natsu "Sorry I can't reach from here; you'll just have to hold it!"

"You're going to the royal city, right?" Edo Natsu asked them "This'll be faster than that beat-up airship. The fastest man in Fairy Tail…" He introduced himself "That's me, 'Fireball' Natsu."

"Natsu?!" Everyone around her were shocked

"You guys didn't notice?" Lia asked them

"But…" Lucy was confused "Natsu! This is…Edolas's Natsu?"

"Just like Lucy said…the splitting' image." Edo Natsu said to Lucy He then looked to Lia "I didn't believe her when she said Lia was in Fairy Tail" He turned to Natsu "And that's the other me? Lame…"

"Our Natsu can't handle transportation." Wendy informed him

"Is that really supposed to be me?" Edo Natsu asked "Just like my nickname, "Fireball", I'm a wizard that specializes in deliveries."

"This magic 4-wheeler doesn't have a SE plug!" Happy noted

"SE plug?" Wendy wondered

"Self energy plug" Carla told her

"It's a device that converts magic power of the driver into fuel." Carla informed her

"People don't have magic power in them here" Lia told them "So it wouldn't serve any purpose here"

"So then it just runs on magic alone?" Wendy asked

"Oh? Looks like Edolas's cars are way more advance than Earthland's…" Carla noted just as Edo Natsu stopped the car

"Hey, what was that all of a sudden?" Lucy asked him

"I wouldn't say that" Edo Natsu told them "As magic power is a limited resource, so is the magic power for fuel. It's tricky to get now. So, this is as far as I take you. Get out!"

Wendy and Lucy stared at him with shock.

"If I go any further, I won't make it back to the guild." He told them "They went and transferred somewhere again…"

"I'm alive again!" Natsu said while standing outside

"Fair enough!" Lia told him getting out herself, she understood it wasn't their fight, it wasn't their friends, the fact they were providing any help was more than expected.

"Looks like the other me and Lia catches on fast!" Edo Natsu told them "Now, everyone out!" He pushed the rest of them out of the car "Go right ahead and fight against the kingdom…but don't get us involved. This time, since Lucy…" He looked towards Lucy "Not you. Since the Lucy I know asked me, I lent you a hand. But I'm not going to get my hands dirty. I just want to continue cruising…"

"Hey" Natsu leaned against the car "You get out, too!" he forced Edo Natsu out of the car

"Hey, What the hell are you…" Edo Natsu freaked out

"I have something to say to you, other me!" Natsu told him

"Let's hope it's something important" Lia sweat dropped feeling sorry for Edo Natsu

"Stop it! L-let me go!" Edo Natsu tried struggling "Put me down!"

"You…" Natsu turned to him after putting him on the ground "How can you handle transportation like that?!" Lia face palmed

"That's what he says?!" Lucy was surprised too

They were all shocked though when Edo Natsu shook and stuttered hiding his face with his arms.

"I'm sorry!" Edo Natsu said surprising them with tears in his eyes "I don't know either!"

The group stared at Edo Natsu surprised as the said guy kept shaking in his place.

"Huh?" Natsu said weirded out "Are you really the me from before?"

"Y-Yes! I'm always told that my personality changes when I get behind the wheel…" Edo Natsu answered

"This is the real Edo Natsu!" Happy freaked out

"Please don't yell!" Edo Natsu said covering his ears "It's scary…"

"Wanna try doing a mirror act together?" Lucy teased the shock struck Natsu.

"I'm sorry! I'm Sorry" Edo Natsu kept apologizing "B-But I can't! I just came this far because Lucy asked me!"

"It's okay. You don't have to force yourself." Wendy told him trying to calm him down.

"Yeah, and it doesn't seem like you'd be much help anyway." Carla said

"Are you perhaps Wendy?" Edo Natsu asked her as she nodded "You're all small and cute! And you, sir, are the me from Earthland?"

"Who're you calling sir?" Natsu asked him

"He's being polite, maybe you should learn from him" Lia told Natsu chuckling

"And you're Lia, right?" He turned to her as she smiled nodding "You're just like how she was when she was with the guild still"

"I'm Happy" Happy introduced "and that's Carla"

"And I'm…well, I think you know by now." Lucy smiled as she walked up to him but he freaked out and hid behind the car apologizing.

"Take it a little easier on me over there, would ya?" Natsu told her

"Our Lucy told me to carry you all here and that's why I did it…" Edo Natsu told them as he showed them the royal city from over the cliff.

"That's…" Lucy was surprised

"Is that the Royal City?" Happy wondered

"I guess you're named 'Fireball' for a reason" Lia commented

"Oh, how pretty!" Wendy admired

"Wait, what?" Natsu slung his arm around Edo Natsu "If we've arrived tell us that in the first place!" causing Edo Natsu to start apologizing again "Great! I didn't think we'd get here this early!"

"Somewhere down there is the lacrima that they turned everyone into." Lucy said

"And it's about time we saved them" Lia said

"Let's hurry up and go!" Carla added running ahead followed by Wendy then the rest.


	15. The Royal City

They were surprised to find the royal city blooming with magic displayed everywhere in the open. Lia stopped using her sense to save every drop of magic in case they needed to fight.

"What is this?" Lucy wondered

"This is surprising. I though the kingdom was ruled by a dictator, so…" Wendy said

"I expected the city to be more run-down" Lucy said

"Plus, we got into the city no prob." Natsu added

"This place is totally different than Louen and Sycca." Lucy said "It's like an amusement park."

"Please a select few and oppress the many others" Lia stated "The mark of a dictator, the city prices are probably too high for outsiders to afford but just good enough for those here to live"

"Right" Carla agreed "They steal magic power and collect it here in the Royal city, they created this pleasure-town to gain popularity with the citizens."

Natsu came riding a toy horse beside them.

"You're gonna get sick" Lia told him

"This king's got a screw loose." Lucy said just as Natsu got sick

"It looks like something's going on over there." Wendy called them pointing towards the square with the people gathering.

"Are they having a parade or something?" Lucy wondered

"Let's go check it out!" Natsu said running ahead along with Happy.

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed

"We didn't come here to play, you people!" Carla yelled at them

"Carla this is Natsu and Happy we're talking about" Lia told her chuckling "Be worried when they stop playing around"

They all followed the two into the crowd.

"What a huge crowd of people!" Happy noted

Once far enough in they stopped though as they saw what the people were gathering around. The giant Lacrima stood in the middle.

"A-A lacrima?" Wendy asked surprised

"Could…that be…" Lucy was shocked

"I doubt it's something else" Lia said crossing her hands.

"Everyone from Magnolia…" Happy said

"Plus, there's a chunk that's been removed." Carla pointed out as Lia agreed "There are marks that show a piece has been cut off."

"That's not all of it?" Lucy wondered

"No way, it's the magic of our entire guild including gramps and Gildarts" Lia told her "The rest of it is probably as twice or thrice as big as this one"

The people cheering got louder just as the king appeared on a podium. Lia stared around her, people cried in happiness, prayed and cheered, she couldn't believe they were okay with this.

"Children of Edolas!" The king called "Our blessed land of Edolas has used Anima to call forth ten years' worth of magic power!"

"Call forth, my butt! He stole it from our world!" Happy stated as the king continued

"Everyone, sing a song! Everyone, laugh out loud! Let us raise our voices together in jubilation!" The people cheered again as Lia glared.

"This magic power belongs jointly to the citizens of Edolas! Also, only the citizens of Edolas are the race blessed with inheriting the future! No one will steal magic power from our kingdom! And I promise to obtain even greater magic power!" He cracked the Lacrima with his staff, Lia clenched her fists and tried to breathe her anger, so that she wouldn't jump the guy right there "Enough to make this pittance of magic seem like mere garbage!" The lacrima cracked and pieces fell to the ground broken as Lia grit her teeth.

Lucy stopped Natsu as he angrily walked ahead. "Keep control of yourself!" She told him

"I can't!" He replied "That...That lacrima is…"

"They choose to be ignorant as long as it makes their lives easier" Lia stated quietly although her anger was betrayed in her voice. She walked beside Natsu placing a hand on his shoulder but looking down "We need to stay calm, to save them…" Lucy and Happy cried

* * *

They managed to get a hotel room, as the sun set though they all were quiet in the room.

While Wendy and Lucy sat on the couch and Natsu sat by the window still, Lia leaned against the with her eyes closed thinking about what they should do.

Carla was the only one doing any action, as she scribbled on a piece of paper.

"Yeah, I can't take it anymore." Natsu said angrily as he got up "We'll charge into the castle!"

"Stop right there Natsu!" Lia shouted at him angrily "What good would that do beside getting us arrested and losing all hope of saving our friends!" He froze but was shaking with anger. "We need a plan!"

"Everyone's been turned into that crystal. How can we turn them back, I wonder?" Wendy asked, Lia realized something at the time when Mystogan sent her here, she didn't think about it but now…she realized there were too many unknowns, how to turn them back…how to get back…

"We have no choice but to ask the king directly." Carla told them

"There's no way he'd just tell us!" Wendy retorted

"Then we should hit he until he does!" Natsu yelled

"I don't think we'll have the time to force him to talk" Lia told him "It's the king, there will be too many guards around"

"I see! The king knows how to bring everyone back?" Lucy stated getting up "This might work! If I can just get close enough to him…"

"Really?!" Natsu asked her

"What are you talking about?" Wendy asked her

"Gemini!" She stated it like it was obvious, Lia remembered the spirit that was the third Lucy when they met back in Sicca "Gemini can transform into anyone they touch, and while they're transformed they can also know what the person knew.

In other words, if they can transform into the king, we might learn a way to save everyone!" Lia was impressed "However, they can only transform for 5 minutes. Plus, the amount of transformations they can keep in stock is limited to two people. If they transform into someone else, then the oldest one can't be used anymore.

The question is just how do we get close to the king?"

"There is a way to get close to the king." Carla told them holding a map up for them to see "It was originally a tunnel to allow the king to escape from the castle to outside the city. So there should be a way to get from outside the city to the basement of the castle."

"Wow! How do you know this?" Wendy asked her

"It's information…Fragments keep popping into my head." Carla told her, Lia though had another thought…they needed to prepare for a worst case scenario. "Since coming to Edolas, I've gained little bits of information about the land."

"I haven't at all" Happy said

"Anyway, if we can sneak into the castle like that, we'll be able to manage somehow!" Lucy said

"All right! Let's turn everyone back to normal!" Natsu cheered as Wendy and Happy joined him

"Wait" Carla told them

"What is it this time?" Natsu asked her

"We leave tonight." Carla told him "Let's rest as much as we can for now."

"Everyone…" Lia called their attention looking serious "We have to plan for another possibility…That we get caught or we're not back in time with the information"

"That's true" Lucy agreed

"In case of this we need to interrupt the process tomorrow as they absorb the magic" Lia told them "Lucy has to go into the castle since she's the one with Gemini and you two can't use magic, so…"

Lia didn't like the plan even though it was hers, she didn't want to send her friends in alone but…she knew that there was at least a possibility of a delay.

Natsu placed a hand on her shoulder to assure her.

"It's up to you then" He told her grinning as she nodded "We're depending on you"

Natsu and rest left that night leaving Lia behind, she couldn't sleep all night and ended meditating till morning before she left the hotel room, pulling a cloak over her clothes; just in case someone recognized her as Lia the criminal.

* * *

"I found your friends" Edo Lia told Gajeel as they stood on the top of a tower "You won't like it though, they tried to infiltrate the castle and were captured, they're in the west tower dungeon in the castle"

"Those idiots probably barged in" Gajeel said before tusking.

"Although, the ones captured were Natsu, Wendy and Lucy, Lia is not with them so she's probably around still" She told him "You should focus on saving your friends in the lacrima, They're going to be extracted today after all, so what's the plan?"

"Well if Mystogan is right, then I just need to use my magic on it" Gajeel stated before looking towards the square "The problem is if we barge from the front, the onlookers will get wrapped in it."

"Not seeing the problem" Edo Lia stated while He narrowed his eyes

"Didn't expect to hear that coming from ginger" Gajeel told her as Edo Lia crossed her hands and looked away.

"We're not the same person…Anyhow, looks like Gajeel is working on your problem" Edo Lia told him looking at the square, they looked down to notice Edo Gajeel, who pointed towards a certain direction.

The two of them made it down from the tower and into the square, on the side of the lacrima pointed by Edo Gajeel.

"I will try and find Lia and I will prepare an escape root" Edo Lia told them "Just follow the blades" as she disappeared into the crowds.

"Blades?" He asked but wasn't answered as the orange head disappeared into the crowd.

Not far off to the north of the Lacrima was Lia who was watching and keeping an eye open for her friends; They were beyond late, which at worst meant they were captured. She wasn't using her sense, she needed every bit of magic.

So when someone held her hand and started pulling her she was surprised but immediately recognized the orange head.

They stopped after walking around the lacrima through the crowd, "Go to the front" Edo Lia told her "Gajeel…Earthland's Gajeel is waiting there. He'll explain while I prepare your escape root"

Without waiting for any reply she was gone, Lia blinked but followed her directions any way. She allowed herself to sense the magic around her, as she sensed the familiar iron dragon slayer and walked towards him.

"Gajeel" Lia called quietly as the said man turned to her

"That was fast" He commented "Didn't think she'd find you so fast!"

"I was surprised to hear you were here" She retorted "So what's are you doing?"

He explained to her that he was planning to use dragon slayer magic to change them back which was according to Mystogan the way to do it which surprised Lia and that he was waiting for an opening from Edo Gajeel, she was more shocked and worried when he told her what happened to her friends who infiltrated the castle.

"And also your twin told me she's preparing an escape root" He told her "Something about follow the blades?"

"Leave that to me" She told him

They walked between the people, waiting for whatever opening they hoped Edo Gajeel had prepared. They both frowned as the magic extraction started, they didn't have much time now. They walked forward, to the first line of crowds.

They looked up as firework were fired forming the word for North. They smirked knowing this was what they needed.

"Look, there was something written there!" Gajeel shouted as the both turned around "North of the Plaza! Some suspicious fellow is after the Lacrima!"

Most of the guards headed north while the rest started pushing the crowd back.

"Leave the guards to me" Lia told him when the people were back enough, she turned around her hands in the air "Just handle the lacrima, Magic missile: Fire!"

Fireballs came down at the guard who fell on the ground, she was focusing on casting the spell with just her magic now instead of relying on the magic that was in the air as she was used to, which gave her spells somewhat more power than that time in Sycca.

"Like I would let you have all the fun. Iron Dragon's club" He yelled as he forced the rest of the guards down.

"Explosion!" Lia yelled as the explosions went around her hitting the guards that were coming from all around "Not the time, Gajeel!"

She put her hands on the ground "Let's try something new, Gravitas!" She yelled as the guards were forced to the ground in the area around the Lacrima, as Lia's spell increased the gravity.

She made sure not to affect the area she and Gajeel were in. Gajeel jumped at the lacrima with his iron sword, shattering a part of it.

It glowed as the light covered the area around them. Lia stood up as she dropped the spell and looked towards the lacrima, shielding her eyes.

The Lacrima disappeared and on the ground were, Erza and Gray.

"Why am I not surprised?" Lia stated "Just two of them"

"Hey, wake up! Pay attention!" Gajeel called to the two, meanwhile Lia darted her eyes around till she found the blade embedded at the start of an alley.

"Ah, you're awake!" Gajeel said

"We can save that for later" Lia told them "We need to run" They were surrounded completely by guards.

"Gajeel?" Erza wondered

"Lia?" Gray wondered looking at the two "What happened?"

Gray and Erza tried to use magic when the guards came running towards them, but couldn't.

"Magic burst!" Lia yelled with her hands in front of her as the beam of magic knocked the guards and made way for them "This way, come on!" She ran forward as they followed, she kept taking sharp turns following the blades.

They eventually stopped at a back alley when they had lost the guards.

"Why is it you can use magic?" Gray asked as Gajeel held the bottle with the red pills in it.

"First, take one of this" Gajeel told them "Mystogan gave it to me"

"They let you use magic in this world, which isn't Earthland by the way, it's a place called Edolas" Lia explained

"What happened?" Erza asked "Tell us the details!"

"The two of you were turned into a lacrima" Edo Gajeel stated as he came into view, with Edo Lia by his side with her hands crossed.

"The guards have been dealt with" Edo Lia told them, seeing the look from Lia "Sent them on false trail!" She defended herself.

"As expected from my Earthland self" Edo Gajeel stated, one egoistic Gajeel was more than enough for her. "You rescued them splendidly!"

"I was there too you know!" Lia stated with a sweat drop

"There are two…" Gray started shocked

"…Gajeels and Lias?!" Erza finished just as shocked

"I did say we were in another world" Lia stated to the two.

"I am the Gajeel from this world" Edo Gajeel stated as he and Gajeel side hugged

"He's a pretty useful guy" Gajeel stated. "Look at his face! That's a face that says 'I get things done'."

"That aside, what do you mean we were turned to Lacrima?" Erza asked as the two Gajeel were surprised about how much she didn't care but they were all shocked when Edo Lia held a blade to Erza's neck. "What are you doing?" She shook her other self, who retreated with a growl.

"Sorry I lost control" Edo Lia apologized while holding her left hand "The Erza in this world is the enemy, she's killed many people most who were from Fairy Tail, for that she earned herself the title of Fairy hunter" Lia frowned

"Well the Erza from my world is a friend" She told her "Sorry Erza" She apologized to the red head, and Gray and Erza swallowed the exballs, before they explained, all about Edolas and what had happened.

"It's okay" Erza said as she gave the orange head a curious look.

"I haven't been able to locate the other Lacrima" Edo Lia told them

"Neither have I" Edo Gajeel said as well

"So for now we need to find the other Lacrima" Lia stated

"Not just that, your friends at the palace are in danger!" Edo Lia told them "Apparently the plan on extracting magic from your Dragon Slayer friends"

"You three go to the palace" Gajeel told them "and I'll search for the Lacrima"

"We'll count on you then" Erza told him

"good luck" Gray told him

"And be careful!" Lia said as the three of them started running led by Lia "My Edolas self-told Gajeel earlier they were being held in the west tower, in the palace"

"Lia, who did my Edolas self-kill, that got her so mad earlier?" Erza asked as they ran

"I still can't believe you're evil in this world" Gray stated

"I think she killed Laxus and Eiran" Lia told her "Although it's a guess, I just know those two are dead in this world"

"That's…" Gray was shocked

"Would explain the look in her eyes" Erza stated, when they neared the palace, they broke through the guards easily as they made their way to the west tower. Mid-way through the castle grounds though they found themselves, they just jumped back in time as a three sharp wind made blades hit where they stood earlier.

"I didn't expect I would face Erza" The feminine voice said as the masked woman came into view clutching two hand fans, with metal blades at their ends "and Earthland's Lia and Gray, I have no quarrel with ending you"

Looking into her eyes Lia couldn't place who she was although they seemed familiar, they help a cold dull look in them.

"And you are?" Lia asked her

"How inappropriate of me" She told them "Venus Wintershade, one of the captains of the royal army and I am here to get rid of the enemies of the king"

"Venus…" Erza gapped staring at the woman, she was nothing like the Venus they knew, nothing of her cheerfulness or innocence, it was hard to believe that this was the Edolas self of the kid they knew.

"That's…" Gray said surprised

"You won't believe the Natsu in this world is a wimp" Lia told them not surprised anymore, but still shocked "You guys go ahead" Lia told them "I will handle things here"

"You sure?" Gray asked as she turned around nodding.

"There's more enemies ahead and if we dawdle we won't get to the others in time" Lia told them "Body enchant: Celero! Robur! Defendo!"

"You talk like I am just going to let you pass" Venus told them, although was shocked when Lia teleported in front of her and punched her in the stomach.

Erza and Gray knew she was right beside they had no idea how this world weakened her magic wise.

"Be careful" Erza yelled back as she and Gray ran forward.

"So you teleport just like that" Venus said "I wonder how strong is Earthland's magic really is." She swung her fan upwards and in one full swipe she took Lia's defense spell down shocking Lia, then again her magic wasn't that strong here. "I am surprised you're not dead even though you were hit with that"

Lia teleported back at a distance staring at Venus with narrowed eyes.

"Well let's see what you got" Venus told her.

* * *

In town Edo Gajeel turned towards Edo Lia.

"I am supposed to meet Lucy to give her information" He told the orange head, they had just found out about code ETD, if this operation succeeded the kingdom would truly become too powerful "You don't want to come yourself this time?"

Edo Lia looked frowning, even though she left the guild, she couldn't leave them alone, she had Gajeel pass any information she got her hands on to them.

She sighed "Fine Let's go" She told him "They might need some convincing any way"

* * *

Lia and Venus stared off at each other, each waiting for the other to make her move, While Venus clutched her two fans, Lia had only her fists which she didn't give her confidence, this made her wish she had learned to wield any weapon.

"Let's not dawdle, right?" Venus told her with narrowed eyes "I need to go after your friends" Lia sensed it before it came, the three sharp wind made blades that hit where she stood earlier as she teleported just before they hit.

Venus had swung each fan while twirling before she crossed the two fans to send the last blade in an x shape.

Venus was fast she came beside Lia in a moment and swung her right fan in an arc at Lia's neck but Lia thanked the gods she had her speed enchant and her sense that sensed the magic in the fan, she was able to react and crouch in time but Venus didn't waste time to kick her in the chest and send her flying back.

Lia teleported to a standing position, but the bruise on her chest was already forming, and she was breathing hard as her chest hurt.

This wasn't going to easy. She thought trying to find a way to win this.

"My weapon is Ventus Lamina" Venus told her smugly "The wind follows its command and thus my command"

Venus came at Lia with her fans again but Lia reacted and pulled a sword made of earth to block her fans, if she can't wield the blade to fight she could defend with it. That plan was crashed as Venus pushed the magic in her fans and easily cut the plates into three parts.

Lia gapped at the hilt that remained in her hand.

"Come on!" Lia groaned before teleporting out of the way of another slash of Venus's fans.

"You're not very strong, are you?" Venus asked her "I mean even your lack of magic, reminds me of Lia…Lia Forelight the one from this world" Venus had a hand on her hip "She had some silly notion that she doesn't need magic" She laughed "Honestly, I think it's just her being an idiot"

"Magic is a part of life" Lia replied with narrowed eyes "It's not everything but here you go stealing lives from my world just for the sake of magic, you destroy and kill your people just because they try to use magic, your cowards that use power to get what you want without caring about others and your king goes around telling people that this is all for them, he's a just a greedy bastard"

Venus narrowed her eyes as her anger rose.

"Don't dare and insult out king" She hissed at Lia "What do you know?! Your world has unlimited magic! You would never have to face the possibility of one-day waking up and it's all gone! Our king is thinking about the best for everyone!"

"You really believe that?" Lia stared at her with sympathy "That he's thinking about the best for everyone? And not just thinking about the best for himself?"

"Yes I do!" She replied clutching her fans tighter "And even otherwise, I owe my life to him, even if he only seeks power for himself, I would gladly give my life for his goals"

Venus ran at Lia again, who teleported into the air "Magic missile: Fire!" the fireballs hit the ground as Venus jumped back swinging her fans into the air releasing the wing blades which Lia destroyed with her magic.

Just as she landed in a crouch, Venus ran towards her slashing left and right as Lia dodged before teleporting to a safe distance.

"Explosion!" The explosion hit Venus at full force but she came unfazed and the smoke blew away revealing a tornado heading straight for Lia.

"You can't teleport right away after using your magic" Venus noted smirking as Lia cursed, she didn't expect the blonde to catch on to it this quick.

Lia put her ground raising an earth wall and jumping back, expecting it wouldn't stand against Venus's magic, she was spot on as the wall was swallowed and destroyed, Venus didn't stop as she ran forwards slashing at Lia, who surprising herself bent back and hit Venus in the shin with her leg as she back flipped.

"Lucky" Lia said to herself, she had been attempting a back flip in her training with Eiran but she hadn't been that successful but rather than luck it was probably the adrenalin.

Venus got up massaging her shin and glaring at Lia, causing the latter to swallow. She was doomed, if she didn't come with a plan, Edolas was definitely not agreeing with her.

Her eyes were frantically looking for anything to use around her, but there were only the walls of the buildings, there was not even a tree in sight, which would have been easier to use.

Lia did realize something though, "Where the hell are the guards?" Lia asked, the place was deserted, which wasn't something you'd expect in a castle.

"They're somewhere more important" Venus replied which worried Lia. "But you Earthland wizards are really…weak"

"No, you'd be surprised on how strong we can be" Lia told her narrowing her eyes. "I'm gonna regret this" Lia muttered, she had a plan but the spell was a dangerous one, she only used it once before and the results…first she better finds a way to disarm her.

Venus ran at Lia again who dodged again before teleporting, Venus was surprised though when Lia teleported on top of her and pushed her to the ground, face first "Destroy!" Lia put her hand to one of the fans and managed to destroy it completely but before she got the other fan, Venus hit Lia with back of her head, and managed to push her to the ground, Lia rolled out of the way as Venus tried to hit her with the remaining fan by rolling into her back

Venus got up before Lia and slashed at Lia but the latter teleported, Venus jumped out of the way expecting Lia to try the same trick but Lia had teleported to a distance, in a crouched position.

Lia jumped to the side landing in a crouched position again, Venus was suspicious of Lia's behavior so when she ran at Lia again, her eyes drifted to the place where she was crouched earlier but there was nothing that stood out on the ground.

In that moment Venus eyes switched to the ground, Lia pushed herself forward and gripped the fan Venus was holding. "Destroy!" The second fan was destroyed causing Venus to curse for her carelessness.

Venus didn't slow down she bought her knee up hitting Lia in the stomach, the latter teleported and landed to another side crouched and holding her stomach while breathing hard.

"You know how hard it is to get a good magic weapon?" Venus said glaring hard at Lia "That was custom made! But if you think you can beat me now you are sourly mistaken"

With a surprising speed Venus was in front of Lia, kicking her again and forcing her to be thrown to the side.

Lia was certain that her enchantments had long faded thanks to her weakened magic. She teleported landing opposite to Venus in a crouched position again.

"Are you too tired to stand?" Venus laughed "Pathetic"

She started walking towards Lia slowly believing the woman to be too weak to run away considering the hard rising of her chest and the hand leaning on the ground for support, as Lia kept staring on the ground.

Closing in on her, Lia teleported to the opposite side standing. "Give up!" Venus told her "You're obviously too weak, you shouldn't have tried playing the hero with your friends, maybe with their help you would have stood a chance"

"The Venus from Earthland is a little twelve-year-old, with a love for music" Lia said ignoring her "I think I am starting to consider her like a little sister" She stared with sadness at her "She's been through really rough times at a really young age but she still smiles and laughs and enjoys everything life has to offer. You said you owe your life to your king, I know how that feels to owe your life to someone" Lia remembered what happened to her when she was ten. "But If you owe your life to them, doesn't mean to follow them blindly!

Fighting fire with fire means both sides keep burning! So if you suffered, you should learn to not make others suffer the same way! Taking peoples life just to get magic isn't right! Magic is just a tool, don't make it into something bigger than what it is! There are more important things!"

"I honestly don't care" Venus told her with a bored tone making Lia sigh in sadness

"Then I'm sorry!" Lia told her as she raised her hands "Infernal Torrent!"

Venus was surprised as four small magic circles appeared around her and connected together forming a bigger circle, before she could get out of the borders, a tower of flame rose from the ground in a rotating motion rising to a long height.

The tower was seen by Natsu, Gray and Lucy running in one of the castle halls through the open window arches, by Wendy and Carla who were heading to Extalia and by Happy and Gajeel who was facing against Panther Lily.

The flame tower died down with Lia breathing hard before she fell to her knees "My magic is never enough for the heat to actually be 'infernal'" Lia said staring at the charred Venus with some of her cloth burned off "But the spell basically forces all of the energy out of your body, so…" Venus fell to the ground unconscious "The only set back is how much magic it uses, and for me at least the setting up process" with her low magic Lia needed to set magic circles for the spell position with high enough magic, she could cast this spell at any time.

Lia fell on her back, breathing hard. "How on Earthland did mom cast this spell on the go?" Lia muttered to herself.


	16. Let's finish this!

As the sun started to set, Lia was tired, but for the few minutes since she ended the fight she had used the opportunity to try and absorb some of the magic to recover, but it wasn't making that much of a difference.

She did note that her cloak was long gone, and her cloth were cut variously and she didn't have the magic to spare on fixing them, she was glad she had managed to recover her bag though and the enchantment on it from her mother was still holding strong.

Suddenly the ground stared shaking as the castle transformed. "What the hell's going on?" She wondered staring at the shifting buildings.

"The dragon chain canon is activating" Venus replied from where she laid, surprising Lia that she was even conscious, she was also worried considering the happiness in Venus's voice "You can say goodbye to your friends"

A large beam of energy was fired as a large dragon head appeared at the top of the castle. The chain was fired at one of the floating islands.

"What do you mean?" Lia asked her angrily while Venus chuckled

"Simply, we're using that lacrima to destroy the exceeds and gain eternal magic" Venus explained "Not much you could do about it now, you might have won our battle but you lost your friends"

Before Lia could retort suddenly some beast was in front of Lia and Venus. Venus wondered what was a legion doing here…She was sure it's wasn't reinforcement, was it?

she heard Erza calling her name and she noticed her on top of the beast with Gray, Natsu, Lucy and some girl. She teleported beside Erza. "Nice timing! We need to hurry!" She said forcing herself to stand, although she was surprised she could move at all, she teleported in top of the beast beside her friends. "What are you wearing Lucy?"

"It's not my fault!" Lucy screeched glaring at Natsu since he it was his plan back then.

"Anyway, any ideas how we stop that?" Lia asked them as the beast flew into the air heading for it.

"No idea but we have to try" Gray replied "We tried to use it to save our friends but that plan failed"

Erza explained what happened when they tried to trick the king.

"Why do you guys assume you can outsmart the enemy?" Lis muttered as the Legion which was the beast they were riding flew towards the island.

"Hurry!" Natsu shouted "We can't let it collide" the Legion collided with the island with Lacrima on it.

"Hang in there, Legy-pyon!" The girl who had introduced herself as Coco encouraged

"It's no use!" Gray said "We're not coming even close to stopping it"

"It's gained too much speed for the Legion to stop it on its own" Lia said gritting her teeth

"Everyone, release your magic power!" Erza told them

"Please, stop!" Lucy shouted

They all started to try to channel what magic they had through the Legion to give him a boost but it wasn't making a difference.

Natsu ran forwards. "Stop!" He shouted pushing against the island, Happy came flying towards him.

"I…um" Happy started hesitant

"Help me out, partner!" Natsu replied

"Aye, sir!" Happy shouted as he flew and started pushing beside Natsu.

As they all started to push against it. They were inches away from Extalia but kept trying to push.

"It's no use, they're going to hit!" Gray shouted

"Brace for it" Erza shouted

"We can't just let everything end like this!" Lia said

"Damn it all!" Natsu shouted just as their backs hit against Extalia. "Not yet! Don't give up, Happy!"

"Aye, Sir!" Happy replied as Gajeel joined beside Erza and Lia.

"Gajeel?" Erza called surprised "Why haven't you returned everyone else to normal like us? You have to hurry!"

"That black cat got in my way!" Gajeel shouted back at her

"Is this the time for this right now!" Lia shouted at them

"She is right! It will take too much time now!" Gray agreed

"We have no choice but to stop it!" Lucy added "We're totally gonna stop it, damn it!"

They kept fighting to push against it, but they needed more help.

"I think I'm gonna be crushed!" Lucy said

"Hold on!" Gray told them

"We have to stop this…we have to!" Erza said

"We came so far…our family needs us" Lia said

Carla joined beside Happy pushing against the island.

"Carla?!" Happy called

"I'm not going to give up…on Fairy Tail…or on Extalia" Carla said "I'm gonna protect them both!"

They were surprised when, exceeds came flying beside them one after the other, along with Wendy, helping push against the island.

"Stop!" Natsu shouted as everyone encouraged each other, Light exploded from everyone's combined magic as they managed to stop the collision.

But suddenly a beam of light covered the island with the lacrima as they stared with shock when they started to fall. Luckily they were griped by the exceed.

"Thanks" Lia thanked the pink exceed that was holding her, but she then looked shocked as she noticed that the Lacrima was gone as the island and the chain faded as well.

"The lacrima has disappeared…" Gray stated

"The dragon chain as well…" Lucy added

"What happened to everyone?" Lia questioned shocked

"It has been returned to Earthland." Came Mystogan's voice as he appeared on another Legion

"Mystogan!" Erza called

"I searched for the remaining tear from the giant anima to return everything to the way it was" He explained as Lia heaved a sigh of relief "I apologize for my lateness"

"You came at the right moment that's all that matters" Lia told him

"Without everyone's help I wouldn't have made it." He replied "I give you my thanks"

"The way it was?" Happy questioned

"That's right." Mystogan confirmed "The lacrima has passed once again through the Anima and returned to how it was in Earthland. Everything is over."

They all cheered happily glad to know their friends were safe, and that they had managed to stop the collision.

"Lily, you saved my life" Mystogan said as he turned towards the giant black cat removing his mask and hat "I am glad I was able to protect your homeland…"

"Thank you so much…Prince" Lily said

"The prince is back" Coco cheered

"This world is too weird" Lia muttered giggling.

But they were shocked when Lily was hit by a beam of magic in the chest. Edo Erza came on top of a legion from behind.

"Black cat!" Gajeel called

"Lily!" Mystogan called as well.

"Traitor" Edo Erza said "In the end, you are one of the fallen. Just an exceed. You've forgotten the debt you owe our king for saving you, and instead turn your blade against him."

They all turned to face Edo Erza.

"It's the other Erza!" Natsu stated

"Her name is Knightwalker." Happy said

"Lily!" Coco called

"How dare you!" Gajeel shouted at her

One of the exceeds went after Lily to help him as Edo Erza shouted "Scarlet!"

"Knightwalker…" Erza said

"Wait, Erza" Mystogan told her "You intend to aim your spear at me, the prince of Edolas, Erza Knightwalker?"

"Prince, you say?" A voice said laughing manically "Don't make me laugh! I don't think of you as my son!"

"That's the voice of the king!" Coco stated

"Where is he?" Lucy asked as they all looked around them.

"After 7 years of hiding in faraway lands, you have some nerve skulking back here!" The king continued "I know that you've been going around Earthland sealing off Anima! You've betrayed your country! You sold out your own kingdom!"

"Where is that voice coming from?" Wendy wondered

"It's like it's coming from deep inside the ground…" Carla stated

"It has to be, unless he has some hidden speakers down there and talking from somewhere else" Lia said cursing internally for the fact she had a hard time tracking them since they didn't have magic…another thing to add to her ever growing lists of need to do.

"Hey! Show yourself!" Natsu shouted as Happy agreed with him

"Your Anima plan was a failure." Mystogan told him "Continuing to fight would be meaningless, yes?"

"Meaning? The meaning of fighting?" The king asked as the light shone on the ground of the remains of a coliseum.

"What's that noise? Or wait, what is…" Gray asked

"The air is trembling from magic power!" Lucy stated, Lia sensed with her magic as her eyes widened.

"That's the highest concentration of magic I sensed since we came here" Lia told them "And it's absorbing what little magic in the ground and air around it"

"This is not a fight!" The king told them "It is retaliation against those who defy the king!" A giant metal frame rose from the ground "A one-sided extermination!"

"What is that?" Lucy asked

"Some magical weapon?" Gray wondered

"It's bad news" Lia said as she sensed it was what was absorbing the magic at an even stronger rate than before.

"No matter who stands in my way, I will eliminate them. Even you!" The king said as the voice came from inside the metal frame "There won't be any traces left!"

"Father…" Mystogan called

"I am no father." The king replied "I am the king of Edolas!" The metal frame opened up "Yes…I'll wipe you out here, and then no one will be left to stop the anima in Earthland! I'll suck up another giant lacrima, and then fuse it with the exceed! I can do it as many time as I want!"

"He's a lunatic" Lia muttered

"Nothing is impossible for the king!" The king finished as they stared at the fully shaped metal machine. "The king's power is absolute!"

"That shape…That magic power…" One of the elder exceed said "Droma Anim!"

"Droma Anim?" Mystogan wondered "It means "Dragon knight" in our native tongue. It's a hardened armored dragon?"

"Dragon?" Natsu was surprised

"Or rather, it's in the shape of one." Happy said

They were shocked to see something like that, and that it meant it was made of a special anti-wizard lacrima. Its mouth opened revealing a cannon like weapon as the king order the soldiers to capture the exceeds.

"Crap…Run for it!" Mystogan said as the Legions started moving towards the exceeds with soldiers arming their cannons, the exceed immediately made a dash for it, but the soldiers started firing their cannons and the exceeds who got hit were immediately turned to lacrima.

Lia and the others were put on Coco's legion.

"We'll protect the exceeds from the royal army!" Erza told them "Attack Knightwalker's forces!"

"Right!" Lucy agreed "Oh yeah…you don't get queasy when riding this legion…" She asked Natsu "Did you have Troia cast on you to help your motion sickness?"

"What?!" Natsu wondered "This guy's like one of our buddies, right? Stop treating it like transportation! That's cold!"

"That's one weird logic" Lia muttered chuckling

"Enough pointless banter for now. What'll we do about that giant thing?" Gray asked as Natsu objected to its being called pointless.

"Can we even do anything? Even if it wasn't anti magic…" Lia said sighing "We're pretty much running on fumes, taking down a giant metal dragon is too much" It was obvious they were all tired and exhausted

"We just have to dodge it!" Mystogan yelled to them "The exceeds are defenseless now! If we don't protect them, then…"

"Right, Let's go!" Natsu cheered as the Legion they were on flew ahead.

"Protect them while dodging me?" The king's voice came booming as he laughed "I won't let a single human escape! I'll blast every last one of you to bits!" The cannon started charging "Be gone!" The beam fired at them but was stopped by Mystogan.

"Mystogan? Is that your name on Earthland, Jellal?" The king asked after Erza had called Mystogan

"Erza, take this chance and go!" Mystogan called as he kept blocking the beam "Go!"

Mystogan started to cast his magic reflecting the beam back at the Droma Anim.

"Did that do it?" Gray wondered as Lia grit her teeth

"Not a chance" She mutter sadly although Lucy was impressed with Mystogan power, they were all surprised though when the Droma came completely unscathed.

Another beam was fired and it hit Mystogan sending him tumbling down.

"Mystogan!" Erza called

"You're much more suited to crawling along the ground!" The king said laughing "You should wander along the ground until you give up and die!"

The soldiers were still firing at the exceed turning them into lacrima.

"Damn it… Ice Make…" Gray said as he was about to use his magic but the legion moved to avoid the beam from the Droma as Gray tried to regain his balance "This is pretty tough."

"I think I'm gonna be sick, and I'm not even Natsu!" Lucy said

"We need to figure something out" Lia said "At this rate the exceed won't stand a chance" They groaned as the legion moved again.

"Ooh, how beautiful." The king said firing one beam after another "Turn every exceed into a lacrima. Spare no one!"

"Damn it! There's no way we can fight while dodging that!" Gray stated

"But what should we do?" Lucy wondered

"I think we should use Lucy as a decoy!" Happy suggested

"You little devil!" Lucy yelled at him

"Although I don't completely agree with using Lucy" Lia started "But someone need to keep it busy while the others fight the soldiers"

They were shocked when a force hit the metal dragon from above, Lia could clearly sense who it was, as well as the other two who hit from the other sides.

"Hey, not bad, Wendy." Natsu told her as He, Gajeel and Wendy faced the dragon

"No…The attacks from the two of you did more damage." Wendy replied

"Let's do it…How dare they do that to my cat?" Gajeel said

"Natsu!" Happy called

"Wendy!" Carla called as well as Lucy called "Gajeel!"

"Go on. Protect the cats." Natsu told them

"We're counting on things here." Erza told them

"But will just the three of them be okay against that thing?" Lucy wondered

"What? Not a problem." Gray told her "We're up against a dragon. They're the only one who can defeat it. The dragon- hunting wizards...Dragon slayers!"

"We should finish things on our side too" Lia told her as they turned to face the soldiers still going after the exceed.

"Oh no!" Happy said

"I can hear screams all the way over here!" Carla said

"They caught up to them!" Erza stated The royal army has…"

"And in so many numbers…" Gray said

"What'll we do?" Lucy wondered

"We must go." Erza said "If we don't, then the exceed are finished!"

"We'll fight, too!" Happy said as Carla agreed

"I've been waiting for you, Scarlet." The voice said from behind them as they turned to find Edo Erza

"Crap it was a trap!" Gray stated as they found themselves surrounded

"An ambush?!" Lucy wondered

They tried to dodge as they were fired at from the ground, but they failed and the legion they were on was hit square on, and they were thrown to the ground.

Carla tried carrying Gray who was holding Coco as Happy tried to carry Lucy only as he kept struggling despite that.

He had tried to hold Lia, but she had told him to let go that she could handle herself so he doesn't have to carry too much.

"I need to time it!" She muttered as the ground drew closer just as she was close enough she teleported to the ground in a crouched position. "Now to help the rest" She put her hand on the ground pushing against her limited magic. "Diversus Gravitas!"

In the air Carla and Happy felt the weight lessen as they managed to land on the ground safely and Lia ended the spell breathing hard.

"Thanks Lia!" Gray thanked her as she waved to him. "Where's Erza?"

Lucy turned to Happy pulling his cheeks for having trouble flying with just her. They looked up to find Erza fighting against Edo Erza.

They barely dodged as the shots hit where they were.

"Enemies?" Carla wondered

"Where?" Gray questioned

"Everywhere!" Lia told him as she sensed the magic coming from their weapons, as they stood up and were back to back.

"They just keep coming out of the woodwork." Gray said

The soldiers started firing at Happy and Carla, Gray used his magic to form and Ice wall while Lia raised and earth wall to protect them on the other direction.

They kept firing at them from the other directions, as Happy and Carla dodged.

"Why are they aiming at Happy and Carla?" Lucy questioned

"Because they're going after the exceed" Lia replied

"Exactly!" One of the soldiers told them "We've turned most of the exceeds that ran for it into lacrima!"

That shocked them, they were too late to save the exceed.

"All that's left are those two." The soldier continued "Now stand still, so we can turn you into our kingdom's magic power!"

"So you don't give a damn what happens to the exceed, if it's for your own magic power?" Gray asked them getting ready to fight

"What kind of notion is that? Sacrificing an entire race for your selfish gains?" Lia asked them

The soldiers ran at them; Gray froze them while Lia used her explosion spell.

"Is that what the humans are like in this world?" Gray asked them "I ain't gonna let you hurt my friends, you filthy bastards!"

Meanwhile, far away from the capital.

"Save the exceed!" Edo Lucy stated as she stood in front of the guild "I met Gajeel on my way here. Things have moved pretty far along."

"Gajeel? You mean the informant?" Lisanna asked

"It's true that his info is always reliable, but…" Jet doubted

"He wasn't the only one that met Lucy" Lia stood at the door as they all were surprised to see her. "I am pretty sure those earthlanders are fighting right now" When they were still shocked she rolled her eyes "Snap out of it already, I left the guild, I didn't die so what's so surprising about seeing me again?"

"Everyone!" Lucy called their attention again "The kingdom is trying to sacrifice the exceed, Earthland and us, and make the entire world theirs to do as they please! We can't let them get away with that, can we?"

"But the royal army has a huge amount of magic power…" Natsu stated "Could we win if we fought them?"

"Furthermore, the royal army has a number of very powerful foes." Mira stated

"Do we even have a chance of winning against them?" Gray asked, Lia watched as they exchanged ideas between waiting or allying with kingdom.

"You know that's why I left!" Lia shouted at them after tusking "The guild was turned to just a punch of wimps! I have been fighting them since I left with no magic, and right now there are group of people from another world fighting and even though they have magic, they don't have the numbers!

They didn't care about the odds! They went into the fight knowing that because they wanted to save their friends and get their home back! And here we are after losing so many people and after being on the run you're still questioning whether you should fight or not!"

Lia clenched her fists as she looked at the floor.

"For once think about the people we lost…and don't be afraid to die like them but fight for them" Lia stated quietly "Are you just going to keep on running? Or are you finally going to stand up for your rights and fight for them?"

"I think the same thing!" Lisanna stated as she walked to the orange head "It's time we fought back"

"If we don't act now, When the exceed are wiped out, the kingdom will surely move on to their next ambition! They'll suppress anyone who opposes them and we'll fall into a new dark age!" Lucy told them "We'll lose the one opening we have! This is no time for humans to be fighting with the exceed!"

Back in the capital, Lia fell to the ground beside Gray, her stamina was gone and her magic as well. She was completely running on fumes. Lucy had summoned Loke to help them but they were at a disadvantage. They were all running on fumes with no way for them to recover their magic.

What made matters worse were the Legion beasts that had shown up now. "Better work on my stamina when we get back home" Lia stated as she forced herself to stand and started fighting again.

Although she was pushed back immediately by a mix of Legion and magic bullets fired at them. "I am not going down this easily" Lia shouted "to hell with the risks, Magic missile: fire!" The fire balls aimed at the enemy hit them although they weren't as strong "Magic burst!" She was throwing spells using magic at this point she was surprised she hadn't fallen yet. "Fairy Tail never gives up after all!" She was hit by magic bullets again but this time soldiers stood above her with their spears aimed at her.

Suddenly tree roots sprouted from the ground and attacked the Legions, the tree grew and the noticed the flag hanging with the Fairy Tail mark. As the Edolas Fairy Tail members joined the fight.

Edolas Lia appeared beside her and kicked the soldiers away, before holding a hand to her which she gratefully took.

"Thanks, but I thought you left Fairy Tail?" Lia asked her Edolas self who shrugged

"Who said I joined them again? They finally grew past the wimpy stage" She replied with a smirk as they both turned to the soldiers "It took a bit of convincing though. You can still fight?"

"Wouldn't back down now!" Lia replied as they started fighting, Lia was shocked as she watched some of the other members of Fairy Tail was complete backwards personalities.

With Edolas's fairytail they were winning now and gaining ground.

Everyone stopped fighting though when the ground started shaking and the floating islands was falling. "What's going on…?" Lia wondered

"If the islands are falling…" Edo Lia said with wide eyes "Is the magic disappearing from Edolas?"

When the yellow beams of light started floating into the sky, they were sure that's what was happening.

In the castle in the royal city.

"The time has finally come…" Byro said to himself

"Byro!" called Hughes as he walked beside Sugar boy and Venus

"Oh it's you three" Byro said turning to them

"Pretty, don't you think?" Sugar boy wondered

"Pretty? What do you mean, Sugar boy?" Hughes asked them

"I mean the magic power…" Sugar boy told them "I expected flowing magic power to be more…fearsome."

"Fearsome things don't usually look like it" Venus told him staring at the beams

"Right you are. It's started." Sugar boy said

"Nothing's started." Hughes told him "It's ending. Edolas is finished."

"And it's happening so simply…" Sugar boy agreed "The royal city, Edolas…History itself is ending."

"Can you even imagine a world without magic?" Hughes asked

"I don't know…I haven't ever thought about it." Byro answered "Not just us…Can the people in town imagine it themselves?

"I don't anyone thought about it" Venus told them "Just when eternal magic was almost in our hands…."

"But why would the magic…?" Lia asked confused, the soldiers and the Fairy Tail members around them started to panic.

"And we're back to wimpy…" Edo Lia muttered although she could understand why they were panicking, she herself had stopped using magic for a while now because of the people she lost so she was almost used to life without magic, to them though it meant unknown future.

The soldiers in the panic threw their weapons and ran away.

"The Royal army's…" Lucy said

"…run away!" Gray finished "Hey guys, we did it!" He turned to the panicking guild

"I don't think they're in the mood to celebrate" Lia told him with her Edolas self beside her

"We're finished!" Edo Gray yelled followed by the members panicking.

"What should we do?" Jet asked "What's going to happen to us? To the guild?"

"There's no such thing as a wizard's guild that can't use magic!" Droy yelled

"Everyone calm down! It'll be okay!" Lucy tried to calm them

"Like hell it will!" Edo Lucy yelled at her "The magic power is disappearing from the world! All of it! What's gonna happen to our wizard guild?"

Edo Lia was hearing the despair that her former guild mates were in with a frown she sighed before gathering a breath.

"You bunch of Idiots for a guild! Shut it!" Edo Lia yelled at them shocking everyone while Lia sweat dropped "What will happen to the guild? Are you really asking that? First of the guild survived on limited magic! and even when they banned magic the guild survived as a dark guild! when we lost members and we lost our master; we survived!

And you still think magic is what keeping the guild together?!" They all started wide eyed at her "Do you really think we're alive because of magic? Yeah sure it helps, but people still died for magic and because of magic, but not everyone had the luxury to get magic even by illegal ways!

How we'll survive?! We'll just cope, like we did in the past! And like we'll keep doing in the future! So stop panicking and remember why we came here! Magic disappearing isn't going to end us!"

They all stood up even though they were still shocked and shaken up.

Edo Lia tusked "I am heading to the royal city, to check on things there! If you wanna stay here and mop suit yourself!"

Edo Lia ran towards the city by herself, while the guild members looked at each other before heading behind her.

"Your Edolas self reminds me a bit of Erza" Lucy told Lia as they stood beside each other.

"Ah" Lia agreed with a nervous laugh "Lets head to the city too! If the city is panicking, they might need help!" The three of them nodded as they started running towards the city.

When they arrived at the city, the three of them deadpanned when they found Natsu playing the bad guy.

When he called for Wendy and Gajeel, they dead panned even more. Especially with the fact Wendy looked cute rather than evil.

Mystogan joined the scene as Natsu challenged him, as they played a fight for the crowd. Without using magic Mystogan appeared to have defeated the villain, which bought hope to the people.

The three of them along with Happy and Carla smiled at the scene, after Natsu had given Mystogan the ceremony for leaving Fairy Tail.

Their bodies started glowing shocking them.

"W-what?" Lucy questioned

"What's happening?" Gray asked as well

"We're getting removed too?" Lia questioned

"We're being sucked into the Anime!" Carla confirmed as they all stared rising from the ground and floating in the air. At least they didn't have to worry about finding a way home.

As the guild started panicking again Gray looked towards them "Don't look so glum!" He told them "You can't have guild without magic, you say? As long as you have your friends, that's your guild right there!" Lia smiled before looking down and noticing her Edolas self standing to the side.

"Lia!" She called to the woman "You still have friends! Don't just give up on them and run off again! Give the future a chance! And Have a good life!" She finished waving as Edolas Lia smiled even though it was a small one and waved back.

The three dragon slayers started to pretend they were dying to convince the people. And they all disappeared into the night sky with the magic.

A few minutes later as Edolas Lia was about to walk away she was surrounded by the guild and stopped in her tracks.

"Lia…You're coming back with us" Lucy walked up to her "Welcome back to Fairy Tail!"

"Wait what?!" She asked confused but wasn't given the chance when she was hugged by Mira and Cana. "Fine! Just because you asked nicely!" causing the guild to cheer.

Back in Earthland, they all fell on top of each other, with Lia ending up under Erza and Gajeel and on top of the rest.

"We're back!" Natsu cheered as they stood up, although it was raining here, with their tattered cloth it would be a problem. Lia breathed as the magic particles around her were in her senses again.

They all looked towards the city which looked as normal as ever, like nothing had happened.

"Everything's back to normal!" Natsu stated

"The city of Magnolia is, too!" Lucy added

"Mystogan did tell us it was" Lia added as Happy cheered

"Wait!" Erza told them "It's too early to rejoice. We need to make sure everyone is safe, first."

"Everyone's fine!" A voice told them from above they looked to find the exceed around them. "We got to Earthland a bit before you, see."

"We've already flown around a bunch!" Another one told them

"The people in the guild and the city are all safe!" A third one said

"It seems like none of them even realize they were turned to Lacrima!" A pink exceed told them

"Earthland sure is amazing!" A blue one beside her told them "There's magic everywhere!"

"What's going on?" Carla asked as Lia was confused "Why…Why are the exceeds in Earthland?"

"I am guessing for the same reason you and Happy were swallowed with us" Lia told her "Because they have magic in their body"

"This is no joke!" Carla stated as she turned to the exceed who flew down to the ground "They're dangerous! We should return them to Edolas."

"I think that option is not available right now." Lia stated crossing her hand in an x

"Come on, now…" Happy said trying to calm the white exceed

"Extalia's gone, remember?" Wendy told her "Forgive them, will you?"

"No" Carla refused, while both Lia, Gajeel, Erza and Gray were confused about Carla being mad. The exceed started to apologize saying they'll change. Lia froze when she sensed a familiar magic, she unconsciously had her sensing on when she returned here.

She walked into the trees as they all talked, before coming face to face with a small Lily, dragging the person she sensed after tying her up.

"Lisanna?!" Lia asked as she stared at the white haired girl.

"Lia!" Lisanna started crying "Lia when did you come back?"

"You know her?" Lily asked as she nodded and walked forward untying the rope. Lisanna jumped at Lia hugging her.

"It's definitely you, I never mistake how someone's magic feels" Lia said as she hugged her back "Lets head back to the others and you can explain how. You coming with us Lily?" The said exceed nodded crossing his arms.

"Gajeel promised to let me join the guild." He told her

Lia nodded.

"…Where's Lily?" They heard Gajeel yell as they neared them "I ain't seen Lily around anywhere!"

"If you want me, I'm right here." Lily stated as he went ahead. "It seems as if Earthland does not match well with my constitution. Right now, I want to join the guild that took care of the prince. You'll keep your promise and get me in? Right, Gajeel?"

"Of course I will, Partner!" Gajeel cried while hiding Lily as Lia and Lisanna walked into the clearing.

"Look who Lily and I found in the clearing?" Lia told them as she held Lisanna beside her. They all stared with shock at Lisanna.

"Lisanna…" Natsu said quietly

"But that's impossible…" Gray stated

"Lisanna!" Erza said

"My…Somehow Edolas's Lisanna…" Carla suggested

"It's definitely our Lisanna" Lia told them "It's her magic"

Lisanna noticing Natsu hugged him and they fell to the ground.

"Lia are you sure?" Erza asked her as Lia nodded "But Lisanna died in front of Mira…" Lisanna turned to Happy hugging him.

"And Gray, Erza…How long has it been?" Lisanna asked them "Wow, this brings back so much! These are new guild members; I gather? A little Wendy…And Lucy?"

"But then you really are our…Lisanna?" Gray asked not believing as the girl herself nodded

"You came back from the dead?!" Natsu yelled as he and Happy were about to jump the girl before they were held back by Erza

"Despite what Lia said, we all thought you died two years ago. I can't believe you've come back from the dead." Erza stated, Lia knew it wasn't the same as her situation, she went missing while Lisanna died.

"I never died" Lisanna told them "Two years ago…I suspect I was sucked into an Anima then…At the time, there should have been a lot of small Anima around Earthland, I bet. When I came into Edolas, I was shocked.

Everyone was a little different, but there were familiar faces right there. Plus, everyone assumed I was Edolas Lisanna. I figured that Edolas's Lisanna had already died. I could tell from the way the guild treated me.

I didn't understand at the time, but when I think about it now, perhaps the Anima was trying to complete something Edolas lacked, by sucking me up when their Lisanna died…I couldn't say the truth. I pretended to be Edolas's Lisanna.

I was unsure at first, I even thought that Lia was in the same situation as me, but when I approached Edolas's Lia it turned to be false.

but soon my memories got jumbled, and I learned bit by bit about Edolas…together with everyone, I got used to the way of life in Edolas. Then, after two years passed…A few days ago Earthland Natsu and Happy showed up."

"Back then?" Natsu asked "Why didn't you tell us the truth then?"

"I just couldn't…" She told him, she told them she had decided to live in Edolas but was surprised when she started to get sucked back. Apparently Edolas's Mira and Elfman had figured out time ago that she wasn't their Lisanna.

"Erza…Would Mira be at the guild?" Lia asked

"No she and Elfman would be at Kardia cathedral" Erza told her

"Lisanna…You have two people you need to see" Lia told the girl smiling "They need to know you're home…" She gripped the girl's hand and got her to her feet before leading her into town and all the way to the cathedral.

When they found Mira and Elfman standing in the graveyard, Lia let go of Lisanna's hand who went running calling for the two.

Lia was joined by the others who came running behind them as they all watched the reunion, Lucy teared while the other smiled.

They all headed home and agreed to meet tomorrow at the guild, Lia dragged her feat all the way to her home.

"I'm home!" Lia called as she entered the house, as Venus came out of the living room.

"Welcome back Lia!" Venus hugged her before taking her appearance. "Why are you so…"

"I will explain after at least a bath" Lia told her as she dragged her feat, she stopped though and looked back at the blonde, before pulling her into a hug. "I really missed you Venus"


	17. S rank exam!

**AN: WOW thanks for all the follows guys! I do hope you're liking it so far! Please review I would love to hear your opinions :D!**

The next day they met at the guild and went inside with Lisanna leading them, the guild's reaction was the one they expected.

"S-Seriously?" Macao said shocked

"Y-You're alive?!" Macao questioned with disbelieve, Lisanna nodded to them. Lia was counting down in her head though.

'3…2…1…now' She counted in her head just as Lisanna was jumped by more than a few members of the guild.

"Lisanna!" They called with tears before they were punched away by an angry Elfman.

"Don't you dare touch her with your filthy mitts!" Elfman shouted at them

"That's the same reaction I had…" Natsu stated as Happy agreed

"That's the same reaction I faced" Lia said shaking her head at her guild mates' antics.

"Thank goodness. The guild's just like it was before." Lucy said as they watched the guild

"I see. Looks like no one knows anything about the Anima." Gray stated

"Considering they were a Lacrima at the time; it's expected" Lia said

"Anyway, what's important is that everyone is safe." Erza said

"Lisanna!" Makarov called walking towards Lisanna "I believed…Everyone raised in this guild is a child of the guild. And what parent is there that doesn't worry about their child? And what parent is there that doesn't believe in their child? You can tell me all about what happened later. Anyway, you did great in coming home!"

Lisanna was tearing a bit. "Master…" She said "I am back home, aren't I? I'm back home, right?"

"That's right. This will always be your home." Makarov told her "Welcome home, Lisanna!"

"Welcome home, Lisanna!" The entire guild cheered

"I'm home!" She shouted as she hugged the master a little too forcefully.

"Cry all you'd like…" Makarov told the crying girl "Before the party that is."

As the party started, Lisanna, Mira and Elfman were at the second floor, Lia and Eiran walked up to them.

"Welcome home, Lisanna" Eiran told her "Well the guild is back together"

"Eiran you're…" Lisanna started but Lia placed a hand to her mouth giving her a wink.

"What are you trying hide, Lia?" Eiran asked the girl, since the guild had heard the story about Edolas, he had been asking the girl how he was there. But Lia joked about thinking she saw a monkey that looked like him.

"I can tell you, Lia no need to hide it…" Lisanna told Lia with a mischievous look "You and Mira were dating there, So I was wondering about the two of you here" The said two blushed crimson and then looked away.

"Eiran, how dare you date my sister?" Elfman asked "Be a man and fight me for the right first" Eiran blushed as did Mira while Lia and Lisanna were whispering.

"It's not a total lie, they were dating till he died a year ago" Lisanna told her

"Nice save anyway" Lia told her "Better keep that little detail to ourselves"

Down on the first floor was a surprisingly depressed Venus, while Lia had avoided telling her that her Edolas self was one of the evil guys, Natsu had let it slip that she was one of the people that dragged them to the cells.

"She wasn't that bad Venus" Wendy tried to cheer up her friend "You were pretty and strong…"

"We did find Lia all beat up and injured after fighting her" Natsu stated causing Venus to slam her head on the table more depressed.

She wasn't the only depressed one, Juvia was depressed after finding out that Edolas Gray was in love with Edolas Juvia, even Bisca and Alzack wanted to go to Edolas.

"So you didn't meet an Edolas version of me?" Raine was disappointed as Lia shook her head.

"You weren't the only one, we didn't meet everyone's Edolas self" Lia told her

The party somehow was turned into a fight between the guys, even Freed joined in but was knocked out right away.

The party went on all day, and ended with everyone sleeping in the guild or passed out, from being too drunk.

A couple of days later, Raine and Lucy sat at the bar with Mira behind it. Lucy was telling them about what Cana told her last night about thinking about leaving the guild.

"And that's what happened" Lucy told them Cana didn't even tell me why! What's up with her?" Mira chuckled.

"It's fine. Cana always says that around this time." Mira told them

"Around this time?" Raine asked "Why what…" She didn't get to finish as Lia came running in, she had picked a request and was in front of Mira who approved the request.

"Lia, can I come with you?" Raine asked as she was thinking about going on a job.

"Sorry Raine, maybe later" Lia shouted back as she disappeared through the guild doors. Natsu and Happy came and Lucy received the same answer from them.

Lucy and Raine were surprised the guild was active as they were pushed out of the way by people informing Mira of the jobs they were taking.

"What's going on?" Raine wondered

"What the hell is this?" Lucy wondered at the same time.

"You'll know pretty soon" Mira told them.

Venus was at the side, tuning her violin with such concentration no one dared disturb her.

Eiran was watching the fight between Erza and the new exceed, Lily. When they stopped, Lily turned back to his smaller form.

"I can only stay in my original body for a short time, I see." Lily said

"Still you're pretty good" Eiran complimented him "I never saw anyone go toe to toe with Erza in a sword fight"

"I agree; your Swordsmanship is superb" Erza told him

"Oh, hardly…I suppose I should say "as expected from Erza". "Lily stated as Gajeel joined the conversation proud of his 'cat'.

"There are people who are working their butts off, but there are people who are just doing the usual, so I have no idea what exactly…" Lucy stated

"You'll know tomorrow." Mira told them as Raine sweat dropped.

"Don't you think there's too many events?" She asked

Then, the next day everyone was gathered at the stage, almost every member of the guild was there today.

Lia was nervous, this was the first year she had actually tried to get into it and she wondered if she should have gone on more jobs or maybe trained more.

Venus was standing with Wendy both excited to find out what was going to happen, it was one surprise after the other with this guild.

"What's going sis?" Sol asked as he stood beside a confused Raine who shrugged

"Beats me" She told him

The curtains on the stage rose to show Makarov with the four S-class in the guild behind him. The guild started cheering, while Lia's stomach was flipping.

Makarov coughed before he started "Fairy Tail! As we have done since days long past, I will now announce the participants in this year's S class wizard advancement Exam!" The entire guild cheered again

"Everyone, quiet down!" Erza called

"The master isn't finished speaking yet. "Gildarts told them

"Don't you want to find out this participants?" Eiran asked them as they quieted down.

"This year's exam will take place on Tenroujima!" Makarov informed them "It is the holy ground for our guild. Each of your powers, hearts and souls…I have judged them all this past year…There will be nine participants!" Lia swallowed "Natsu Dragneel!"

"All right!" Natsu cheered

"Gray Fullbuster!" Makarov announced "Juvia Lockser! Lia Sephiran!"

"Yes, it's my turn now!" She cheered happily

"Elfman!" Master continued "Cana Alberona! Freed Justine! Levy McGarden! Mest Gryder!"

Lia was thinking about who to pick as a partner after all half her list was just crossed over since they were in the exam themselves.

"This time, only one of you will pass" Makarov continued "The exam will take place in a week, so each of you, prepare yourselves! As this is the first time for some of you, lets explain the rules"

"Each of the eight selected participants, please select a partner within the week of preparation." Mira informed them

"There are two rules for the partners you can choose" Erza told them "One: They must be a member of Fairy Tail. Two: You cannot partner with S class wizards."

"The contents of the exam itself will be announced once you arrive at Tenroujima" Makarov informed them "But this time, Erza will be blocking your progress"

"I'll also help out to get in your way!" Mira announced

"Of course that means me as well" Eiran told them with a smirk

"No good deed goes un-punished" Lia muttered sweat dropping.

"No complaining!" Gildarts told them "All S class wizards have gone through the same path…" Lia's eyes widened

"Don't tell me…" She muttered as her face turned white.

"You're gonna participate too, Gildarts?!" Natsu asked with glee as Gray shouted at him not to be happy.

"The nine selected participants and their chosen partners will assemble at Hargeon port in one week. That is all!" Makarov informed them

Afterwards Lia was talking to a member of the guild named Mickey, the woman had the ability to summon messenger birds and Lia was asking her to deliver a message for her.

Meanwhile, Raine sat beside Lucy at a table with Gray, Natsu, Lisanna, Elfman, Wendy, Venus, Juvia, Carla and Happy.

"This year's gonna be tougher than ever" Gray stated

"I'm surprised that it's the first time for all of you." Lucy said

"I'm fired up!" Natsu stated "I'm gonna become S class for sure!" As he blew fire into the air

"The path to becoming S class just got farther away!" Elfman shouted

"So who are you guys going to partner with?" Raine asked, they turned to see Freed was partnered with Bickslow already.

"Well the 'winner partner' is in the exams herself" Elfman stated

"Who is that?" Lucy asked

"Lia" Gray informed her "Every time she ended up partners with someone they made it to S-class"

"She was partners with Laxus, Eiran and Erza when they took the exam, and they all passed in that try, she even helped Erza beat Eiran in the year Erza took the exam" Happy told her making Lucy's, Raine's, Juvia's and Wendy's eyes widen.

"Lia is really strong" Venus cheered happily

"Raine?" The said girl appeared beside them

"Yes?!" Raine replied nervous

"Can you be my partner?" Lia asked her clapping her hands

"Uhh…" Raine thought about it "Okay"

"Yes!" Lia cheered "Ready to go train?"

"Ok?" Raine said although it came out as the question and was immediately on her feet

Lia turned to the table "You four better watch out because I am making it to S class no matter what this year, and Venus watch the house for me, kay?"

"Aye, Sir!" Venus replied happily

Lia walked with Raine as the both left the guild, after Raine had asked Macao to take care of Sol for the duration of the exam, since the younger boy liked to play with Romeo.

It was snowing outside, and had been very cold for a few days now, so both girls had heavy cloth on.

"Winner partner?" Lia laughed as Raine told her "Well I guess they did win but it was mostly their own strength, my enchantment didn't make that much difference"

"I am sure you don't give yourself enough credit" Raine told her as Lia smiled back at her "So I hope I can be of help"

"Don't worry, I think our magic is perfect together" Lia told her grinning.

The next day, Lia and Raine met in the east forest and were sitting on the ground with a fire in front of them and a tent behind them. They had gone home yesterday and got some stuff to prepare, the two of them intended on camping to train here, When Lia told Venus the plan, the younger girl wished her luck.

Lia had wondered about how Raine could progress into using her runes spell without the wood pieces.

"Well rune spirit magic is a holder type magic" Raine explained "To learn it you have to start with the carved rune, but to use the runes on their own is caster type magic and it's a little hard to change from passing magic through something to just using it" Lia was thoughtful for a few seconds.

"You know, in my opinion all magic is holder type in a way, it's just the medium that different" Lia told her confusing Raine "It's more classified on what the eye sees, I am going to gather something in my hand and you try passing your magic through and use a spell" Lia put her hands like she was holding something and closed her eyes focusing on the air around her.

Air and water weren't the hardest to use for Lia, Fire, Lightning and earth were easier. So it took about a minute before the air gathered in a sphere between her hands. Raine stared in awe, before Lia told her to go ahead.

"Don't worry, I am controlling the current so it won't cut you" Lia assured the pinkette who nodded and put her hand against the air.

"Rune cast: Wunjo" Raine said moving two fingers to draw the rune on the air between Lia's hands, the air was soft like drawing on snow or cotton. Immediately the both felt the calming sensation that came from using that spell. Raine smiled not believing she did it.

"Good job" Lia told her smiling "So like I was saying it's just a matter of different mediums, although air is harder than solids or liquids but it's still a medium there for you to use"

"I never thought about it like that" Raine stated

"Not many people do, it's just my magic is what has me thinking like that" Lia told her rubbing her hands together to warm herself "Everything is particles even the things we don't see with our eyes, and everything is connected and can be changed from one form to another" Lia recited from memory the first lesson she was taught about particle magic, seeing Raine with a confused look again "Like water it's originally a liquid but can be changed to ice which is solid or even to vapor which is gas, snow itself is another form of water it's just passed through different freezing cycle than usual that made it take this form."

"I see" Raine stated chuckling "Particle magic is really complicated" Lia chuckled it was something she was used to hearing, she stood up.

"Lets' get the training started before we freeze to death" Lia stated as Raine agreed standing up.

They started with hand to hand combat, Lia was stronger and knew how to read the opponent from her training with Eiran while Raine was quicker and more evasive, which was probably from her usual fighting method with the chakram which was originally meant as a throwing weapon.

After Lia had the girl train with Lia's enchantment so she could get used to the extra speed and strength.

They then moved to learning each other spells and training their magic at which point Lia told Raine her ultimate weakness which had shocked Raine.

They moved to coming up with different plans, before eventually they moved to the study part where Lia told Raine all she knew about the four S-rank even though Lia was sure they were stronger than she remembered, the base for their magic was the same.

When it came to who would she rather fight, she preferred Eiran or Erza although the former rather than the latter, for the fact Erza never and would never understand the concept of holding back.

But in every case, both Eiran and Erza used magic that took solid form, the former being crystal and the latter her weapons and armor, which gave Lia the advantage with her destroy spell.

If they met Mira, it would be a trouble but if they met Gildarts they were doomed.

And before they knew it the week was over as the nine participants and their partners gathered at Hargeon Port…

They had been at sea for a while now and as they neared Tenroujima the heat increased that contrasted with the winter back home. Most of the girls and guys were down to their swimsuits.

Lia wore a red bikini while Raine wore a pink one.

Lia leaned against the ship rails, while Raine sat at the table with Cana, Levy and Wendy.

"So hot…" Lucy complained "Even though it was winter at home…what is this?! I think I'm gonna melt! I'll turn into ice-cream and get eaten by Happy!"

"Not very appetizing…" Happy replied

"Lu, sit up straight" Levy instructed the blonde

"Because of the currents, this area has the same climate all year 'round" Cana stated while waving a fan to cool herself

"We're actually lucky there's even any wind at all" Lia told them as she waved with her a fan "Sometimes the wind is so still ships would be stuck mid sea for a few hours"

"But still this is too much heat…" Raine complained resting her head on the table as Wendy made a sound in agreement.

The complains kept going from Happy and Lucy as Gajeel pretended he wasn't bothered by it. Natsu on the other hand was dealing with his motion sickness problem. Wendy hadn't used troia on him since she was Mest's partner, Lia was tempted to help but given the exam she held back, so the poor guy had to deal on his own.

"I don't care for this chumminess when soon, we're all going to be enemies" Ever stated

"It's an exam Ever, not a death battle" Lia told the woman

"It's too hot to be a man!" Elfman said confusing them

"I wanna eat ice-cream…" Lucy stated as Raine agreed.

"Don't eat me…" Happy told her

"I can't even imagine you as ice cream, Happy…" Lucy told him

The finally noticed the island appear in a distance.

"It's in sight." Loke stated looking over the side of the ship, as everyone moved to see it.

Raine stood beside Lia as she looked at it.

"Have we arrived?" Gray asked

"That's Tenroujima?!" Lucy wondered

"What a freaky shape!" Elfman stated

"Is that an island on top of an island?" Levy asked

"I can see why it's our guild's sacred grounds" Lia stated "It's as weird as our guild"

"True to that" Raine chuckled

"Wow…Even from here, I feel magic power in the air around the island" Wendy stated as Lia nodded

"And it's so clean too" Lia added, given that not many people came here, the magic was pure.

"Very impressive" Mest agreed

"It's said that long ago, there were fairies on that island" Makarov stated as he appeared on the top deck's railing.

"Master…" Lucy called

"Also in reference to the very first Fairy Tail master, there's Mavis Vermilion's sleeping ground!" Makarov informed them, although Lia already knew, she highly admired the first master from what she read about her, her magic was illusion but she was admired for her wits and knowledge and she was known as the Fairy Tactician.

"What's with those clothes?!" Gray asked pointing at Makarov, who was dressed like he was going on vacation.

"After all it's hot" Makarov stated as he pulled a fan

"Someone who wears no clothes has no right to talk!" Lucy told Gray

"Now, I will announce your first trial." Makarov told them as they paid attention, it didn't escape Lia's senses that Freed was placing runes around the ship in the background, she whispered to Raine to be ready, as they both pulled their bags on, Lia with her messenger bag and Raine with her back bag.

"First trial?!" Wendy asked as Mest explained the exam had different stages

"You see the smoke rising over the shore?" Makarov told them as they looked towards the island "First, head over there. You'll find nine passages, but only one team can enter each passage. And at the end of each passage, this will happen." A map appeared beside him showing the passages; four passages had pitched battle written on them each with a face of one of the four current S-rank, two other were each the meeting point of two passages and had battle written on them, the last one had calm on it.

"Only teams that get through this will pass the first trial" Makarov told them

"Battle?" Natsu noted as he seemed to sober from his sickness

"It says pitched battle on Erza and Gildarts' faces…" Gray noted

"What is that?" Lucy asked

"There's calm, too" Loke noted

"In the battle route, two teams amongst the eight go head to head, and only the team that wins can go one" Makarov explained "Pitched battle is the most difficult route, as you must defeat a current S class wizard to proceed. Calm is a route that can be used to get to the end without fighting. In this first trial, you're being tested on armed might and luck!"

"Luck?!" Some of them were shocked

"Theoretically, 7 teams at most can pass this stage" Evergreen noted

"And only three at worst" Lia added

"Impossible!" Elfman said "I can't get past the path guarded by Gildarts or Erza!"

"Don't be such a coward!" Evergreen shouted at him

"There's Eiran and Mira too" Raine said having witnessed the prior in a battle and heard of the latter's power.

"So, get going!" Makarov told them "The test has begun!"

AS soon as he said the words, Lia pulled Raine and they both jumped into the water, followed by Freed and Bickslow who were in the air as he activated his enchantment.

"When did you notice?" Freed asked as Lia smirked

"The moment you placed them" Lia told him as she and Raine started swimming to shore.

"Relax! It'll disappear in 5 minutes!" Freed called back to the people stuck on the ship

"Tough luck guys!" Lia called back too causing them to be shocked to see her outside

"You didn't have to rub it in" Raine told her once they reached shore Lia shrugged though, they reached where the passages where and noted that one was already closed.

"What do you think?" Lia asked her partner "I can't sense anyone which means they're deeper in the path"

"let's go with 'I'." Raine suggested as they walked into it, and it closed behind them. Lia stopped though.

"Now that's settled, if we have to fight I would rather not do it in a swimsuit" Lia pulled some fabric from her bag, and after wrapping it around her, she changed it into a red tank top, with brown mid-thigh shorts and black boots.

"The cloth in my bag are wet though, mind giving me some?" Raine asked Lia who happily obliged. Raine now had a short sleeved yellow shirt with a brown open vest and brown shorts, with brown ankle length shoes. "Thanks"

"Let's head in then" Lia told her as they both started walking the cave was lit by Spirit Light bugs, they did eventually reach a wider area in the cave, Lia had already sensed who were opponent and had told Raine, so as they reached that area they both dropped their bags to the side.

The area had some slits in the celling letting some light illuminate the cave.

"I was hoping it wouldn't be you Lia" The voice stated, as Eiran walked into the light "But I am still not going to hold back" Eiran was wearing a turtle neck sleeveless black shirt, with grey combat pants tucked at the end into black combat boots.

"About time we fought seriously" Lia told him grinning as she and Raine got in a fighting stance, with Raine's hand being on her rune pouch, while Lia gathered her magic.


	18. Fight between siblings!

**Year x768**

The guild cheered as Sophia entered the guild hall welcoming her home, "Mom!" the five-year-old Lia ran at her mother, who picked her up. "Welcome back!" Lia's hair was in a braid and she was wearing a dress.

"I'm home!" Sophia replied before she put her on the ground, Lia was happy her mother was finally back but stopped looking at who was with her. "This is Eiran, he'll be joining our family starting today"

Eiran was six at the time, he had a blue shirt and black shorts. He looked at Lia and huffed looking away. "Now you be nice, while I talk to master" Sophia said before walking to the bar where Makarov was sitting.

"Nice to meet you! I am Lia!" Lia introduced with a grin as she extended her hand for a hand shake, he just dug his hand into his pockets and looked away huffing. Lia frowned as she retreated her hand.

"I don't plan on being chummy with you" He told her glaring which made Lia flinch

"You could act politer though!" The seven-year-old Laxus said as he walked up to the two, which ended with the two boys glaring at each other, before Eiran huffed and looked away.

"Just stay away!" Eiran said as he walked away from them.

"Wait" Lia said as she tried to grip his arm but he pushed her away.

 **Year x784**

Lia and Eiran stared at each other, it has been so long since they met but Eiran hadn't even once fought her seriously, he always held back…even when fought the enemies, Lia though planned to show him how strong she had become.

He knew he told Lia that he won't hold back, but he was always holding back.

Raine looked between the two as they looked at each other, before Lia reached a hand for Raine's shoulder.

"Body enchant: Celero, Robur, Defendo and Reflex!" Lia casted the enchantments on both of them, adding her new enchantment which increased the natural reflexes.

The girls jumped to the side as the crystal stakes protruded from the ground, Eiran ran at Lia as she teleported out of the way.

"Bearer of the rune of Tiwaz, Tiw…" Raine stated holding the red orb with the run on it as it glowed "I summon thee"

A muscular bald tall man appeared, he had a chest and shoulder and thigh plates, under were a long sleeved shirt and long pants tucked into boots, in his hand was a two handed sword.

"To protect my summoner, at all cost!" Tiw ran at Eiran as Eiran used his crystal armor spell, he blocked the sword with his crystal gauntlets.

"Magic Burst!" Lia yelled as Tiw jumped back and the magic beam hit Eiran who raised a crystal wall to protect himself. He smirked as the beam dispersed.

"Try harder!" He told Lia who smirked back. From the left came Tiw at him again while from the right Raine appeared with her chakram, Eiran was quick to react and jumped back. Lia teleported behind him.

"Destroy!" She destroyed his armor and then quickly with her hand to his back "Body enchant: Crumble!" He felt it as the spell took over, he reached his hand gripping Lia's arm and pulled her forward before he sent her flying with a kick to the stomach.

"Rune cast: Kaunaz!" Raine yelled holding a wooden plate as the fire beam appeared aimed at Eiran who dodged to the side. Tiw ran at him, but Eiran crouched and punched the spirit in his stomach, before punching him in the shin. And as the spirit was falling backwards, Eiran punched with his elbow in the stomach again.

"Magic Burst!" Lia had waited on the spell charging more magic and as Tiw rolled out of the way she released it at Eiran, who crossed his crystal clad arms in front of him to lessen the blow.

By the time it dispersed, Eiran's crystal armor was long gone. As Tiw slashed his sword, Eiran made a crystal sword to block, the two kept clashing swords.

"Magic missile: Wind!" Lia called surprising Eiran, Lia rarely used other elements other than fire…unless using the element gave them an advantage.

Four miniature horizontal tornadoes formed as they hit were Eiran was, one after the other as he kept dodging them, the tornadoes though when hit the ground stayed there which surprised Eiran.

Tiw didn't miss the chance Eiran landed as he jumped forward and swung his sword, Eiran blocked with his crystal sword, but Tiw had hit when Eiran had just landed, he wasn't balanced and ended losing his footing.

On the ground, Eiran rolled out of the way to avoid Tiw's sword "Crystal Shac-" He didn't get the chance to finish as he was hit by a lightning beam and thrown backwards.

"Again" Lia told Raine who nodded

"Rune cast: Sowilo!" Raine cast as on the tornadoes as Lia used some of her magic to keep them going on, and when the lightning hit them they rising air increased the lightning intensity.

"Magic missile: Lightning!" Lia said as she controlled that lightning and sent it at Eiran, who managed to react in time though.

Eiran was impressed at what they were doing, it was a roundabout unison raid in a way, but he wasn't going to let it go.

"Crystallization!" Eiran said as he hit the ground and his magic turned the floor to crystal before, heading for its target, the tornadoes.

Lia and Raine jumped back as Lia whispered to Raine to move to plan b.

"Go back for now Tiw" Raine stated as the said spirit disappeared "Bearer of the rune of Eihwaz, Ullr I summon thee" The said leather clothed hunter appeared, he immediately fired a rain of arrows at Eiran who dodged them running.

Lia teleported again behind him, and put her hand to his back "Body enchant: Colligo" As Eiran felt his speed drop. He gripped Lia by her arm and as he was about to punch, she propelled herself with her other hand on his arm, sending a kick to his face, but even with him being slower, he managed to stop her leg with his hand after drawing back the hand she was using for support.

She teleported out of his grip, as Raine appeared behind him with her Chakram as he jumped back from the sharp blades as Raine moved faster, with her natural speed and Lia's enchantment, her speed was on another level.

"Magic missile: Fire!" Lia yelled from behind as the fireballs hit his back "Losing are we?" Lia smirked as he grinned.

"I have to say I am impressed, by both of you" Eiran told them "But looks like I have to get serious" He crouched and gripped Raine's arms from in between her slashing her blades, causing her eyes to widen at how he managed to get past her blades.

Eiran threw her at Lia behind them, as he rolled on the ground moving his hand in the two girls' direction, as Lia steadied Raine. "Crystal Hail" as the crystal shared formed around them, Lia raised her arm "Destroy!" With a wave all of the shards were destroyed as Eiran raised an eyebrow impressed.

He jumped to the side avoiding the arrows that came at him, he turned towards the spirit "I haven't forgotten about you, Crystal Lance" as the crystal like lances aimed at the spirit who jumped back to avoid them.

"Crystal shackles!" Eiran stated as the shackles gripped Ullr's arms and legs and pulled him to the ground.

"Thanks Ullr" Raine said as she closed his gate "Bearer of the rune of Fehu, Freyja I summon thee" The woman appeared and threw the invisible force at Eiran who was thrown back surprised.

"Psychic magic?" Eiran wondered standing up and smirking "You'll have to do better you two" Raine was surprised, they have been delivering all the blows, but Eiran was still standing, Lia had told her of his stamina and durability but this was crazy.

Raine breathed "Lia trusted me to be her partner, and I am gonna help her pass this exam!" She ran at the man "Rune cast: Dagaz" Raine said holding a piece of wood with a rune on it "Form of the inner spirit" She transformed into medium sized pink fox with three tails, as she ran in circles around him firing fire balls from her mouth at him.

"Crystal Dome" He raised the dome around him, till Raine stopped, but his barrier was broken by the force from Freyja.

"Don't you underestimate my power!" Freyja told him as she waved her hand sending slashes of the invisible force at him.

He ran at Freyja and kicked her in the stomach. "How ungraceful! Beating a woman!" Freyja yelled as she stood back up

"We're in the middle battle" Eiran shrugged as he faced the anger of the spirit who kept sending forces at him.

Raine still in her fox form jumped at him from the side, making it hard to keep avoiding the two which he meant he got a few times.

Eiran knew something was up since he was just getting attacked by Raine and her spirit, while Lia was missing and those two weren't giving him the chance to look for her. But he did sense it, a high concentration of magic enough for any mage to sense, coming from his blind spot.

He crouched to avoid Raine, before spinning to see Lia standing with her hands clapped together and in front of her was a giant orange with red taints magic circle with a five pointed star in it.

Raine transformed back just as she landed. "Rune cast: Isa! Hold!" Raine held another wooden plate as she placed her hand on the ground and Ice appeared around him freezing him in place, as she kept passing magic into the ice to strengthen it.

Freyja smirked putting her hand on the ground as well as Eiran felt like there was an invisible force pushing him from up so he couldn't move.

Eiran was having trouble moving his body but his magic was already working on the ice turning it to crystal.

Lia moved her hands do her palms faced the magic circle.

"Magic burst: Heaven's light!" She shouted. It was an improved version of her spell, as the huge concentration of magic formed from the points of the star and hit the target from the different points, they hit Eiran head on before he could do anything.

The spell took time to charge since Lia didn't have the magic power for it and had to use the magic around her. The spell lasted for a few more seconds before it started dwindling down, once the magic was completely gone, both Lia and Raine dropped on their knees worn out from all the magic.

Even Freyja's portal was closed since Raine didn't have the magic to maintain it. The smoke around where Eiran was finally dispersed, to show the said man, lying on his back as he groaned Lia's eyes widened thinking he'll get up.

"Good job!" He sat up, surprising them "That finishing attack was impressive. You can go one, you pass!"

Raine cheered, while Lia just sighed not liking the fact they passed but didn't really win…even though she gave it her all. As she attempted to stand she fell to her knees, seeing that Raine got up and walked to the orange head, after getting their bags from where they discarded them, she helped support the Orange head who thanked her.

"That last attack took everything you had" Raine told her "We better go if we want to rest before the second round"

"Wait!" Eiran called as he pushed himself to a sitting position "You did good the two of you, Raine I was honestly impressed by your speed and quick thinking" The said girl blushed "Lia…" The girl looked at him as he grinned "Your mom would be proud" Lia's eyes widened before she smiled softly.

"Our" She corrected him.

Sophia hadn't been there when Eiran made it to S class, and He knew Lia would have wanted her to be there for her as much as he had wished for it when he passed, but since she couldn't he would.

"I will be waiting to see you at the finish line" He told her and she nodded with a new determination, as she and Raine started making their way through the tunnel.

They finally made it out of the tunnel, waiting there was Lucy and Cana, Levy and Gajeel, Loke and Gray and Natsu and Happy.

"Lia! Raine!" Lucy called "You two made it as well!"

"Figures, you would make it" Cana told them

"Just let us catch our breath" Lia stated as they both sat on the ground, Lia crossed her leg and started to meditate to recover her magic.

"It wasn't easy, Lia used all of her magic" Raine told them, before noticing Natsu sitting quietly to the side "What's wrong with him?" They all shrugged "Did he get the calm route?" She figured he might be feeling down he didn't get to fight.

"No we got that" Levy told her as Gajeel grumbled beside her.

"Do you think anyone else will show up?" Gray asked

"Most likely no" Cana told them as Makarov walked up to them

"Now then, I think everyone is here." Makarov informed them, as Lia opened her eyes but still sat cross legged, the magic she recovered for now will have to do, she had focused on recovering some while Raine helped her walk.

"Master!" Lucy cheered

"I will now announce the results to date." Makarov told them "Cana and Lucy defeated Freed and Bickslow in battle and passed through" Lia was impressed while Gray was shocked along with a gabbing Raine "Natsu and Happy managed to get past Gildarts somehow and passed through" Everyone was shocked as they stared at the depressed pinkette

"Levy and Gajeel passed through the calm route with good luck!" Makarov stated as Gajeel complained "Grey and Loke defeated Mest and Wendy in battle and passed through"

"and finally Lia and Raine defeated Eiran and passed through!" Makarov informed them as Raine made a peace mark to the others.

"Did Juvia fail?" Gray asked causing Makarov to scream

"Juvia and Lisanna hit upon…her" He told them as Lia chuckled knowing who he meant "The female knight who knows not the meaning of holding back!"

"In other words, they failed in the luck portion!" Lia stated chuckling

"Then all that's left is Elfman and Evergreen." Lucy noted as Lia paled considering the only route left

"But if we consider what's left they must have taken the route…" Cana stated thoughtfully

"Mirajane!" Lia, Lucy and Cana stated together

"Sucks to be them." Levy stated while Raine looked confused.

"Hold it!" A voice shouted as Elfman walked towards them supported by Evergreen "We beat my big sis!"

"We've passed through the first test!" Evergreen said

"Incredible!" Makarov said

"How did you beat Mira?" Happy asked causing the two to freeze

"I can't say as a man" Elfman said

"Let's just say we managed to find an opening to slip through" Evergreen said as Lia narrowed her eyes

"I am definitely asking Mira after the exams…" Lia noted to herself, as Makarov coughed to get their attention.

"Anyway…the teams that passed the first test are: Natsu and Happy, Gray and Loke, Lia and Raine, Levy and Gajeel, Cana and Lucy, Elfman and Evergreen. Those six teams." Makarov informed them "Now we will begin the second test!"

Natsu got up surprising them. "Gray, Lia, Cana, Levy, Elfman!" He called pointing at them "Lets fight and see just who'll become an S class wizard!"

"You, especially, I ain't gonna lose to you!" Gray told him

"Neither will I" Levy told him as Cana and Lia gave him determined looks as Lia finally stood up along with Raine.

"As a man, I will take on that challenge!" Elfman told him

"I am gettin' fired up!" Natsu cheered as he lit a flame

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered

"I'm gonna make Cana S class, no matter what!" Lucy called

"Even if I'm fighting you Lucy, I won't hold back." Loke stated

"And I am going to help Lia too!" Raine stated

"Keep barkin', strays!" Gajeel told them

"Now then, I will announce the details for the second test of the S class wizard Advancement exam!" Makarov told them "The second test is searching for the grave of Mavis, our founding Guild master."

"Founding Guild Master?" Lucy asked

"Fairytail was formed by five people, one of them is Mavis Vermillion who became the first guild master" Lia explained

"Huh? That sounds easy!" Natsu stated, as Lia frowned, this test would be far from it considering how big the island was.

"You have only 6 hours!" Makarov told them "Hear that? I said 6 hours." He turned walking away "I'll be waiting at Mavis's grave."

Each of them took off running in a different direction.


	19. Second Exam interrupted!

The Ship moved slowly considering the almost still wind, that of course gave rise to the heat. They were a good distance away from the island now.

On the ship was four Fairy Tail members heading back home, Gildarts, Eiran, Freed and Bickslow.

"So Why are you heading back?" Freed asked "Aren't you two judging the exams?"

"I stayed for my part but I'm hitting the road as soon as we're back" Gildarts told them

"Master wanted one of the S rank to be at the guild just in case anything happens" Eiran grumbled "I drew the short stick"

"You probably wanted some alone time with Mira eh?" Bickslow told him as his dolls repeated "Alone time! Alone time!" Eiran ended blushing while clenching his fists, apparently Lia and Lisanna didn't keep quiet on the fact in Edolas Eiran and Mira were dating, which made it the teasing point for those two.

"Well you got my approval!" Gildarts told him laughing

"Shut it!" Eiran shouted at them "There is nothing going on between us!"

"Yet!" Freed added which send them into another round of laughter as Eiran just got more embarrassed.

"You know if you don't hurry someone might steal here away" Gildarts told him clapping him on the back.

"Whatever!" Eiran said as he looked away staring back at the island.

Meanwhile back on the island in the forest, Lia walked beside Raine in her fox form, they had run into a few animals…or more like beasts and had found out with Raine like this, they avoided them much easier…or rather the beasts avoided them.

"It's weird though having us run around like this with no hint" Raine stated sighing, while Lia was walking beside her thinking. "The time will run out before we find it"

"That's the thing, usually the test doesn't repeat, having us run around like this is basically a luck test which already happened in the first round" Lia stated "Which means there must be a hidden hint, but I haven't been able to figure it out!"

They both stopped though when they saw what was in front of them.

"Whats a village doing here?" Raine asked confused, while Lia's eyes widened like a kid in a candy store.

"It's the red lizard guild location, I only read about this place!" Lia stated as she noticed the guild mark before turning to the confused Raine "This is where the first master was born and where she grew up"

"Do you think her grave would be here?" Raine asked as Lia shook her head

"I don't think so, beside I can't sense gramps here" Lia told her "But we might as well rest here for a bit instead of running around clueless"

Lia and Raine sat inside one of the houses, and as Raine reverted back, Lia pulled some of the food she had packed and give some to the girl.

"but I am surprised you know where the first master was born." Raine noted smiling, Lia just smiled.

"I always read about her, she used illusion magic which didn't make her very strong in battle, but she still stood for what she though was right" Lia was smiling as she remembered the stories she read "She was very smart too, and loved learning. She was recognized as a strategist later on too! She's like my role model!"

"I think I might borrow that book when we get back" Raine told her as Lia scratched her cheek.

"It's not exactly a book…It's my great grandfather's journal actually…" Lia stated as Raine blinked "He was one of the five that founded Fairy Tail."

"Wow!" Raine gaped "Amazing!"

"It's nothing really." Lia shrugged it off "So, did you know that as a kid the first master loved Fairies, she was the one that came with the idea for the guild to form and the name as well"

"So she named it because she loved fairies?" Raine wondered "But I remember Mira saying something when I asked her about the name…uh! Do fairies really have tails? Do they even exist...an eternal mystery...A never ending adventure!"

"I guess that's right, both are right and this came from that" Lia told her "Things usually have more than…" Lia froze mid-sentence "Things usually have more than one single meaning…"

"Huh?" Raine wondered confused as she bit into the bun she had.

"Raine if I told you Rainbow, what's the first thing that comes to mind with three letters?" Lia asked the pink haired girl, who thought for a second.

"Red!" Raine answered

"Since it's related to it…On the boat gramps called this place Mavis Vermilion's sleeping ground" Lia stated as she thought out loud "Without explaining, our mind translated it to where she was buried, because it was another way to say the same thing."

"A way to same thing!" Raine caught on "I think I am seeing what you're getting at, it's the same with my runes, they each stand for different things, but even then, those things are usually related. So, they did give us a hint!"

"A word related to grave, with six letters" Lia stated nodding "We'll just have to figure what the word is!"

"Why Grave?" Raine asked

"Because it's the goal of the exam and six because it's the time" Lia explained "They're the only significant things that Gramps told us about the second round"

They were silent for a few minutes as they ate and thought, Lia ended pulling a notebook which she used her magic to remove the water from and started writing the words that came to her.

"I know…" Raine spoke up "Demise!"

"That's right!" Lia agreed "And that's answer! We have to back to the beach!"

"Why?" Raine asked

"The letter E repeats in the word, it's the only thing that stands out!" Lia explained as she stood up and picked up her bag, followed by Raine.

"So path E at the beach!" Raine said as she picked her bag and Lia nodded

"Let's go!" Lia told her as she nodded and the two started running heading for the beach.

As Lia and Raine ran through the forest. Lia's eyes widened as she stopped suddenly and raised a hand in front of Raine stopping her.

"What…" Raine started but then looked ahead as two people walked and stopped.

Lia narrowed her eyes as she caught the mark on the woman's cheek, and the man's forehead.

"Grimoire Heart!" Lia stated as Raine beside her looked at the surprised, she had heard of the dark guild after all.

"Looks like we found ourselves some Fairies, Leona!" The male stated as he licked his mouth.

"They would make pretty dolls, Torin!" Leona said monotonously.

Torin was a skinny man with short black hair and black eyes and looked to be in his twenties. He was wearing black pants and black slippers but no shirt. He held a long silver scythe with a metal rod, the side with the blade rested on the ground while he leaned against the other side.

Leona had long silky black hair with a red hair band holding it back so she didn't have bangs and black eyes as well and looked to be still 17. She was wearing a short sleeveless black dress that reached mid-thigh with a wide neckline showing her chest, along with black heals. In her hand she clutched a small doll, while also wearing a belt with three more dolls tied to it.

In that moment before Lia or Raine could ask anything a red signal appeared in the sky.

"So there's more of you, huh?!" Lia asked as she turned back to the enemies in front of them as Torin laughed crazily, Leona stared emotionless.

"What are you after?!" Raine shouted at them

"It doesn't matter to you little fairy; you'll be dolls in a few minutes anyway" Torin stated laughing.

"You can have the pinkette" Leona told him as her eyes zeroed on Lia "I am turning the orange head"

"No fair, I wanted dips" Torin said laughing as Lia and Raine got ready to fight. "Doesn't matter, that one will look perfect in my collection!"

"If you don't fight back it won't be as painful" Leona stated as she held the doll in her hand and it started glowing "Go, Nicholas!"

The doll turned to a muscled man who looked to be in his forties, He had red hair and was wearing an open black vest along with black pants. His eyes' white was black and it looked like he had no pupils, and on his left cheek was a small magic circle that look like it was branded.

"Rise my puppets!" Torin laughed as the earth between the Fairy Tail mages and the Grimoire heart mages broke and hands rose from the grounds. Lia and Raine cringed as they saw what rose from underground. It was like dead bodies with the decaying skin and missing body parts.

Lia touched Raine's shoulder and as she was about to recast her enchantments, she was punched in the stomach and thrown back. Raine's eyes widened as the man who was changed from a doll stood where Lia were.

"Lia!" Raine called but jumped to the side as one of those zombies tried to grab her, she pulled quickly one of her orbs, "Bearer of the rune of Eihwaz, Ullr I summon thee" The hunter appeared "Ullr, it's a real battle this time, not an exam!"

"What in the name of Wyrd?!" Ullr wondered as he stared at the zombies as their summoner laughed behind them.

"Necromancy I think…" Raine told him as she drew he chakrams

"Oh it is!" Torin confirmed "Dead bodies coming to live to follow my every command" He swooned as Raine cringed and Ullr put himself in front of her "Don't look like that; after all you'll be joining this horde soon" Torin told her laughing "You should get to know your new family!"

Leona walked where she saw Lia had been thrown, Lia appeared behind the said girl aiming a kick but her leg was stopped by Nicholas. "You're really cute" Leona told her "You're really going to be a pretty doll, but what should I name you?"

Lia raised her other leg trying to hit Nicholas's shin as leaned her weight on to her hands, but Nicholas caught her other leg just as easily.

"You shouldn't resist" She scolded like she was an adult teaching a kid what's wrong.

Lia teleported away and stood a distance away. "Even though I think I am gonna regret asking…" Lia whispered to herself "Hey!" She called to the woman "What the hell do you mean by doll?"

"Oh, I forgot to explain…It's my magic" Leona stated "Subjugation, I turn people to dolls that follow my every command, once a doll you belong to me" Lia's eyes widened "I forgot to introduce myself too, I am Leona, welcome to the family, Camille!"

"Camille?" Lia wondered thinking the person in front of her must be completely out of it.

"It's the name I am giving you" Leona told her even though there were no emotions apparent on her face, Lia imagined a crazed grin "Now Camille, be a good doll and stay where you are, so you can join the family"

Lia had used the time they were talking to cast the enchantments on herself, as she narrowed her eyes at the approaching girl.

"Not happening!" Lia ran at Leona with her new speed surprising the said girl, but her punch was caught by Nicholas, Lia turned her other hand towards him "Body enchant: Crumble! Colligo!" She casted her enchantments on the said man, before aiming a kick at his stomach and throwing him away "Now, how do you turn them back to humans!" She shouted at the Grimoire heart mage, considering she was willing to answer all her questions so far.

"You don't! there's no way to turn them back!" Leona stated as she pulled another doll from her belt. "Go, Anne!"

A tall pink haired woman who looked to be in her twenties appeared instead of the doll, her curly hair reached all to her waist and like Nicholas she had complete black eyes, she was wearing a silver crop top with a wide neck line showing her chest, along with silver crop shorts and ankle length boots. The same burned magic circle was just on her collar bone.

Lia got ready thinking she need to get back to Raine as fast as she could.

"Rune cast: Kaunaz!" Raine shouted as the fire beam hit the zombies while Ullr was shooting rain of arrows at the zombies who didn't stop and kept going.

"Raine, we need to go after the summoner himself!" Ullr told her, the problem though was that the hordes of increasing zombies that kept rising from the ground seemed to be hiding the said person, so he couldn't get shoot from afar. "I will open a path, but be careful!"

"Of course!" Raine told her spirit partner

Ullr nodded as he fired three arrows at the same time before they started separating to even more, they embedded themselves into the heads of the zombies, opening a path in between the horde as Raine darted through going for the necromancer.

She slashed at him as soon as she reached him, he was quick to react kicking his blade so it rotated and held it with both hands as he blocked her chakrams.

"Go for the summoner! The summoner is usually weak!" He sang as he kept blocking "You're a summoner yourself, puppet! You should know better!" He pushed her back causing her to stumble, as she was about to hit the ground hands gripped her.

"Raine!" Ullr called as the zombie hand holding her tightened and one of them bit her shoulder, causing her to scream.

Ullr shot the zombies holding her causing them to let go as Raine gripped her bleeding shoulder while glaring at the necromancer who laughed.

Lia froze when she heard Raine's scream, they weren't far from each other but she couldn't see her.

"You shouldn't space out Camille!" Leona told Lia, who jumped backwards to avoid Nicholas's punch that hit the ground instead, Anne appeared quickly behind Lia, throwing at her knives with wires tied to the ends.

Lia found herself tangled in wires, that were pulled causing her to grit her teeth as her limbs were pulled in different directions.

"My Nicholas is a master fighter he protects his queen at the frontline" Leona informed Lia "Anne is a capturing genius using her wire magic, she brings gifts for her queen"

Lia teleported out of the wires. "I can't lose here" Lia whispered to herself "Magic missile: Fire!" Lia shouted as the fireballs formed above her, and headed to Leona who was protected by Nicholas, while Anne appeared behind Lia again.

"Destroy!" Lia stated turning and destroying the wires, before punching Anne and throwing her away.

Nicholas appeared behind Lia, he turned her around throwing punch after the other.

"Rune cast: Isa!" Raine used her ice rune to freeze the zombies as she retreated away from them "Rune cast: Hagalaz!" The wind flowed around her after casting the rune easily cutting through some of the zombies although they started recovering again.

She finally reached Ullr though mid-way as he tried to reach her, and they stood back to back with Raine holding her shoulder, they were surrounded.

Raine cut a part of her shirt to reveal her stomach as she had Ullr tie her shoulder for now, before they faced the zombies again.

Torin was back to leaning against his scythe, although he wasn't laughing anymore if anything he was starting to get bored.

"We need more help" Ullr told her with the increasing number of zombies and the fact they regenerated they needed more people.

"Lia is probably still fighting and we should assume everyone else is too" Raine told him as she took a breath pulling another orb "Here's hoping my magic is enough" Ullr's eyes widened when he turned to see Raine holding another orb.

"Raine…" before Ullr could object though she started the summoning. "You're not…"

"Bearer of the rune of Tiwaz, Tiw…" Raine started "I summon thee!"

"I have to say it's impressive you could do it" Tiw stated even though Raine was breathing hard, this was the first time she had managed to summon two spirits and stay conscious, she gritting her teeth and forced herself to stand up as she gripped her chakram tighter.

"I joined Fairy Tail to get better after all" Raine stated "I am going to keep fighting!"

Lia was on the ground, her defense from the enchantment was long gone as she coughed and held a hand to her rips, her cloths was somewhat tattered from all the hits. Wires though appeared tightening around her neck, arms and legs and before she knew she was being pulled back like before.

She gritted her teeth from the pain as Leona started approaching her, Lia teleported causing the raven haired girl to sigh.

"We're going in circles, Camille" Leona told the orange head

"ITS LIA!" Lia screamed getting irritated by this girl, who simply picked another doll from her belt.

"Go, Elliot!" Leona said as the doll turned to a blonde guy who looked in his twenties, his blonde hair reached his shin and he had the same black eyes. He wore a long sleeved red button up shirt with black pants and shoes. The mark was burned into the back of his right hand. "Let's go all out, I want to get as many new dolls as I can today after all, Go, Cedric!"

A knight cladded in armor appeared, his helmet was down hiding his face, with the armor covering his entire body, and in his right hand was a long wide sword while in her left was a shield.

"Elliot knowing the tricks of magic he nullifies them to stop enemies of the queen" Leona stated as Lia stood up ready for an even tougher fight "and finally Cedric the knight that protects my kingdom. Now my sweet dolls, bring me Camille!"

Nicholas appeared in front of Lia as she dodged his attacks, followed by Cedric who slashed her sword when she tried to teleport to avoid it, she found she couldn't use her magic, behind her was Elliot with a hand on her back stopping her magic. She raised her arms and her left got slashed by the sword, as she quickly crouched and teleported since Elliot wasn't quick enough to stop her.

She immediately jumped out of the way as Anne tried using her wires on her again.

They stopped and looked at the sky as orange orbs started falling to the ground.

"The main forces are here" Leona stated as Lia's eyes widened when the orbs broke to show mages wearing cloaks and masks with the grimoire heart mark. "This is Fairy is mine!" Leona shouted at the mages who immediately scattered scared from the doll mage.

"No…" Raine whispered as she saw the number of enemies now surrounding her and her spirits.

"Hey you idiots, don't crash my fun!" Torin yelled annoyed at the mages, no one was stealing a potential puppet of his "Go find your own!"

The mages ran away, the siblings, Torin and Leona were crazy enough to scare off their own comrades.

Though all the Fairy Tail mages around the island found themselves surrounded as well.

They all froze as they heard and explosion coming from somewhere, unknown to them Makarov had just been defeated by Grimoire Hearts Master.


	20. World of Great Magic

**AN: two more followers to 20 ^^ *mini happy dance* Thank you everyone :D and hope you keep on enjoying it and please review and tell me your opinion!**

Fairy Tail members all over the island faced different members from Grimoire heart, Lia and Raine were no different as their fights continued.

"I will handle the zombies" Ullr told Tiw and Raine as he fired arrows at the zombies, "you two go after the summoner."

"Easier said than done!" Tiw stated slashing his sword in an arc to destroy some of the zombies. "You can't shoot him from here?"

"I could but…he'll dodge it, he was dodging Raine easy earlier" Ullr replied before turning to the distracted Raine "Raine…"

"How many people have he killed to turn to this?" Raine asked with sad eyes as she slashed at another zombie, she was feeling disgusted at the guy and angry.

"Now is not the time to focus on questions like that, Raine!" Tiw yelled at the pinkette.

"Ah" She looked up with a new determination, she already lost her parents before because of a maniac, she knew if he beat her, he would go after the others, she wasn't losing anymore family "You two cover me, I will handle him!"

"Raine are you sure?" Ullr asked concerned "He beat you before and you're using two much magic already by keeping the two of us here"

"I won't lose people I care about…never again, everyone from the guild is fighting, I have to keep going too" Raine replied with a new born determination. "He took me by surprise earlier but I won't let it happen again"

"Understood" Tiw told her as he shared a look with Ullr and the both nodded and started making a path for Raine, who immediately took the chance and ran at Torin.

"Again with this" Torin sighed "better make it fun puppet!" He raised his scythe to block Raine who appeared to be going for a slash while standing, but he was surprised when she crouched and her hands moved in an arc upwards behind his scythe, he took the hit before jumping back.

Lia placed her arms on the ground "Gravity!" the increased gravity hit all around her including where she was standing. This spell was usually to hold enemies back; it didn't have an effect in battle that she could benefit from on her own. But she needed the seconds to think of a way to stop this.

She was getting overwhelmed; her body was bruised and she had cuts and scratches on her arms and legs curtesy of Anne and Cedric. Her magic was just buying her time, and even when her hits landed they weren't stopping or getting affected.

Elliot though appeared in front of her unaffected by the magic as he kicked her away before she could react as the spell was broken, Nicholas appeared in front of her punching her again in the stomach as she dropped to the ground, Cedric about to hit her by the back of his sword.

Lia pulled a blade from the earth and blocked his sword, she wasn't a swordswoman that's why she didn't bother to use this spell often but she needed a weapon with how low her magic was running, she hadn't recovered from the battle was Eiran completely after all.

"I want to wrap this before one of the seven kin shows up here" Leona muttered "Camille be a good doll and sit down, this is getting annoying"

"Who are the seven kin?" Lia asked her ignoring the rest of her sentence

"The seven generals of Grimoire heart, you Fairies are as good as dead with them here, that's why I want to wrap this quick to get myself as many good dolls as possible" Leona told her as Lia froze, so all this and she wasn't even fighting one of the higher ups.

Lia breathed calming herself, there had to be a way to stop this, the most direct way is beating the mage herself, but with Nicholas here, she couldn't do it.

Lia's sword clashed with Cedric's sword "He's not as good as Erza" Lia muttered even though it wasn't easy she was keeping up with the knight, until the point when Nicholas appeared behind her with Elliot beside him stopping her from using her magic.

Torin and Raine exchanged blades as they slashed at each other, both had been hit multiple times, but while Raine breathed hard he just ginned and Laughed, magic wise she was at her limit with two gates open, she couldn't use rune spells, and stamina wise she was running on fumes.

"Oooh! You're getting slower, puppet!" Torin said as he waved his scythe which she blocked "If all Fairy Tail mages are like you, then I will be getting a handful of puppets today!" Raine froze, she remembered her family she didn't manage to protect, and she remembered the smiles she shared in Fairy Tail as they accepted her and Sol and let them become part of the family.

"I won't let you…" She said quietly before looking with fire in her eyes at Torin "I won't let you hurt anymore people!"

She waved her hands drawing a rune in the middle of air, Ullr and Tiw behind fighting the zombies were surprised to see her doing it without a medium.

"Rune cast: Isa!" Ice shards flew at Torin who blocked them with his scythe, but the shards weren't the only thing she formed and ice wall was in front of her "Rune cast: Kaunaz!" Fire hit the ice as steam flowed around them. "Let's go Ullr, Tiw! I can't do it alone! Please lend me your strength!" Raine yelled, She had made a cover for Ullr, so Torin wouldn't see the arrows coming.

"A hunter can use his nose as well as his eyes!" Ullr stated as he located Torin in the steam and fired a rain of arrows at him, most of which hit.

Raine appeared in front of the necromancer as the steam was starting to dissipate, and slashed at him while dodging his slashes although a few hit her, she insured all hers hit him.

"This is it for you!" Tiw stated appearing behind him with a horizontal slash at the wizards back, Torin fell to the ground with Raine kicking his scythe away.

"How?!" Torin asked as he couldn't move his body. He was losing too much blood and started to lose conscious as his zombies turned to dust. They breathed a sigh of relief but was surprised when the dust from the zombies gathered around Torin who smirked as he looked up at her "You didn't think it was over, did you?"

Raine fell to the ground staring wide eyed at Torin as he grew in height and his muscles increased and wounds closed, while she was out of magic and could barely move, even Ullr and Tiw were gone now with no magic to keep them here.

Lia had managed to get away from them and even avoid Anne. The sun had already started to set; she wasn't sure how long had they been fighting now but she knew she was at the end of her ropes, she was breathing hard, her body ached all over and her magic was almost gone.

"Give up yet?" Leona asked as she stood with her four dolls beside her staring at Lia who was on her knees on her ground. Leona looked completely fine not a scratch on her or sign of tiredness wile Lia was breathing hard, her hair disheveled and her cloth tattered, she was bleeding for many slashes and bruised all over.

"Never…" She told the black haired girl as she pushed herself to stand, but was stopped by Nicholas who pushed her back against a tree, so she wouldn't slip away again, while holding her hands together, Elliot appeared behind him putting a hand to her side to stop her from using magic to teleport while Anna tied her with wires against the tree so Nicholas let go while Elliot stood there still.

"You're finally joining the family, Camille!" Leona stated with a giggle while Lia could see a crazed grin on her face, Lia tried to wriggle free or use her magic but she couldn't while Leona approached her. "We'll have to get rid of that later" Leona stated as she held Lia's right hand and looked at Fairy Tail's mark, before scrunching a look at Lia and placing her palm against Lia's right waist which was exposed because of her tattered shirt.

"I will put the brand here" Leona stated before looking Lia in the eyes "And you'll become a cute doll"

Lia's eyes closed she had feeling she was going to feel a lot of pain, but before Leona could use her magic someone walked into the field.

"Stop Leona" Torin told her as he walked into the field, he was back to his normal size, Lia opened her eyes to look at him and her eyes widened in worry when she saw the girl he held unconscious in his arm. "You didn't forget what we are supposed to do first? I don't want the master to get angry at us again" Leona flinched as she hesitantly removed her hand, just as Torin threw Raine beside the tree Lia was tied to.

Lia growled at him, but she was worried despite the throw Raine didn't stir, this though made Torin grin.

"I knocked her out completely so we'll question your doll first" Torin stated as Leona's eye brightened

"Let's hurry" She said just as Anne used more string to tie Raine to the same tree, although Elliot still stuck to Lia to make sure she doesn't get away "Now Camille, do you know where Zeref is?"

Lia's eyes narrowed, she knew who Zeref was; she had read about the black wizard, but why were they looking for him when he was supposed to be dead? And why were they looking for him here?

"Why are you looking for him?" She asked them, hoping Leona was still willing to answer like at the start of their fight.

"To create the perfect world for us" Leona told her "The world of great magic!"

"A world where those like us get to rule" Torin continued laughing "While those weak and with no magic can't live, where they can peacefully become dolls for us" Lia's eyes widened in horror

"Can you imagine it? A world where those who aren't worth anything can actually be useful by following us" Leona said with glee, her emotionless face long gone

"Our very own paradise" Torin added with a laugh

"That's..." Lia started staring at them with anger "That's no paradise! You want to enslave those weaker than you! You-…" Lia was stopped as a hand forcefully held her at her mouth. Lia stared at Nicholas, who was the one holding her, his black empty eyes, they wanted to turn people to be like that, they wanted to turn them to those zombies from earlier.

"I am going to have to discipline you Camille" Leona stated emotionlessly "Can I do it? She obviously won't tell us anything even if she knew and I don't want a scarred doll"

"Go ahead" Torin shrugged "We'll have fun with mine afterwards, I don't mind a few scars on my puppet"

Leona put her hand on Lia's right waist again, as Leona surged magic to her hand, Lia didn't manage to hold the scream from the pain that hit her waist, although it came out muffled since Nicholas still had a hand on her mouth.

Lia dropped to the ground as the wires were let loose and both Elliot and Nicholas let go of her, her body was heavy she didn't know was it because of her tiredness or was it from the pain of the burned brand on her left waist now, or was it because she was losing herself and becoming a doll.

"Welcome to the family, Camille!" Leona told her cupping her face, Torin behind her seemed bored as he rested on his scythe.

Her body felt heavy and she could feel her eyes dropping, she was remembering a lot of the things that happened in her life. She wondered if this was the end of the line for her? A doll for the enemy? probably forced to fight her friends?

It started to rain but Lia could barely feel the rain drops as they hit her.

"Just close your eyes it will be quicker" Leona urged her and Lia despite everything could feel her eyes almost completely close.

'Fight it!' a voice told her in her head 'You're a Fairy Tail wizard after all' It was her mother's voice; she was sure of it 'Remember why you're fighting!'

'Don't you think about running off again' This time it was said by Eiran who stood there as well.

'Since when do just give up?' Laxus appeared beside them 'You're more stubborn than that'

Her friends started appearing one after the other, Natsu, Erza, Mira, Venus…every one of her guild appeared around her and she stared at Raine who was actually lying unconscious beside her.

Her friends…Her family…they were here, and one of them beside her was going to get hurt if she didn't do anything.

"I am…" Lia whispered, even though neither Leona nor Torin could hear her "never…" she moved her right hand slowly till it was placed over the seal on her right waist "giving up! Destroy!"

Leona and Torin looked shocked as the magic exploded around Lia pushing them back along with Leona's dolls. It was the effect of Lia hitting herself with her own magic.

As the dust cleared and Lia wasn't there and Raine was on the ground as the wire holding her was cut, Leona turned around noticing the orange head a distance away. Lia had a hand on the ground while the other was on the hole where the brand used to be, covering it as it bled.

"Are you out of your mind?" Leona asked her, no one had ever thought to do this to break free, Torin though wasn't grinning or bored like he usually was, he had his mouth half open in shock as he stared at her, no one had ever come back after being defeated by either of them and no one had ever escaped Leona's spell.

"I definitely am, considering what I am about to do as well" Lia replied as she finished drawing the magic circle on the ground, she placed both her hands on it "Release!"

* * *

 **Year x768**

Lia woke up in the bed she recognized as the one at Porlyusica, she had been here a few times before after all. Her mother was beside her bed crying.

"Mom?!" The little five-year-old called "Why are you crying?"

"I am so sorry, Lia" Sophia hugged her little daughter crying even more "I am so sorry" Porlyusica and Makarov were behind Sophia, looking grim as well.

"Mom, why are you sorry?" Lia asked confused, one thing she felt though was like something was missing, her body wasn't hurting as much or sore as usual, but she felt a gab too.

Sophia back away, looking at her daughter, because of her, Lia will never…

"Lia, I…I sealed your magic away" Sophia informed the five-year-old, those words were so simple to understand, that the five-year-old Lia looked shocked with wide eyes.

* * *

 **Year x784**

"Release!" Lia yelled as the light surrounded her and she felt the tug on the seal on her back as it loosened, she needed to time it right or it would have been for naught.

The intense pressure forced Leona and her dolls back, for a couple of minutes before Lia, changed the flow of the spell "Seal!"

The pressure disappeared, Leona and Torin stood there wide eyed as Lia stood up, she used her magic to change a part of her cloth to a bandage wrapped around the injury on her waist.

"What did you…" Leona was shocked as Lia stood there, she wasn't even shaking like a few minutes ago, when she was almost out of magic.

"I just recovered my magic" Lia told her smirking "And now I know how to stop your magic" Leona's eyes widened even more.

"It's…there's just no way…" Leona couldn't form a coherent sentence.

"You messed with the wrong guild, we're known for doing things that wouldn't come to the mind of a normal person" Lia told her "I am sorry to the four of you" Lia apologized to the four dolls that used to be humans at some point "But this will free you!"

Lia teleported before Leona realized what was even going on, and appeared in front of Nicholas and placed a hand to his left cheek "Destroy! I am sorry!" Lia said as she destroyed the seal on him before his eyes turned back white and his pupils to a blue color, he nodded smiling before he disappeared into dust.

"No!" Leona screamed "My dolls!" Lia teleported just as Elliot was about to stop her and appeared in front of Anne and placed a hand on her collar bone where her mark was.

"Destroy! Forgive me!" Lia said again as she destroyed the mark, Anne's eyes turned back showing her green almond pupils.

"Thank you" The woman whispered before she turned to dust as well.

Leona screamed in the back again while Torin was more focused, he couldn't use his zombies for a while after that recovery spell he used earlier and she was moving too fast, Lia looked towards the two remaining, Elliot was going to be tough since she couldn't use her magic on him and Cedric had his mark hidden because of his armor.

Lia crouched pulling a sword from the earth, before she and Cedric clashed swords, the kept blocking each other before Lia teleported behind him and put a hand to his armor "Destroy!"

The armor broke and fell showing his chest with an open vest on it.

Lia clashed swords again as He turned to her with his sword and she saw his mark right above his heart, Lia clashed swords again before she managed to slip a hand toward the mark. "Destroy!" She cast the spell "I am sorry!"

"Finally" The man whispered although she couldn't see his eyes because of the helmet, he disappeared to dust as Lia turned towards Elliot and Leona who was showing anger clearly on her face.

"I am going to destroy you" Leona said gritting her teeth at the orange head who held her sword as she looked at Elliot, she couldn't use her magic against him, she would have to be careful.

She teleported in front of him and slashed her sword as he dodged and jumped back to avoid her sword, she teleported behind him and crouched knocking his leg causing him to fall, she gripped his hand as he fell.

"Sorry!" Lia whispered before she passed her blade through it destroying the mark. When he hit the floor and his eyes showed their blue color, Lia sighed in relief that it worked.

"Thanks" He told her as he disappeared to dust, Lia sighed before standing facing the black head who was the reason for their suffering, along with Torin beside her.

"You planned to hurt my friend…" Lia was filled with anger as she glared at the siblings, the rain completely soaking her as the rain kept getting heavier, but she barely felt the difference even her injuries were forgotten for now, as she moved with the adrenaline making her focus on them alone "You planned to destroy the lives of millions of people…The world of great magic?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Only 10% of people in the world are wizards!"

Torin tusked before he moved at her with his scythe, "You're annoying me" He said swinging his scythe, Lia teleported away before quickly putting her hand on the ground.

"Cito!" As she cast the spell, Torin and Leona were surprised as they ground under them turned to quick sand and they couldn't get out even though they struggled, Lia stood up and teleported beside Raine, she hoisted the girl's arm around her shoulder and placed and arm around her waist.

"You think this will stop us!" Leona screamed with fury at the girl as Lia put Raine against one the trees away from the quick sand "We'll get out and We'll come for you and your pathetic friends!"

"You Fairies are as good as dead anyway!" Torin yelled as well "You can't hope to beat, the seven kin, let along master Hades or his right hand man!"

Lia turned to them as she walked closer again.

"Don't underestimate Fairy Tail! This is the end for you! Messing with people's lives like that…" Lia told them glaring "People never belong to anyone! You don't have the right to control them, to move them against their wills!" as four small magic circles appeared around the area where Torin and Leona were stuck as they kept struggling "You don't have the right to control who lives and who dies!" the small circles connected together forming a bigger circle, it was a larger area than what Lia was used to cover with this spell and it was even raining, but Lia didn't even flinch at the prospect "If it weren't for Raine, I probably wouldn't have managed to beat you this easily, people working together, helping each other that's what is supposed to happen, you're not supposed to use others the way you've been doing so nonchalant" The magic circle was glowing stronger as it gather more magic.

Torin and Leona froze, they could feel the magic gathering around them, any beginner wizard could feel this much magic gathering in one spot. Lia gave them one look "Infernal Torrent!"

The tower flame rose tall covering the entire circle, it was seen by almost everyone on the island as they stared at the fire rotating in the tower dissipating the rain around it and the steam flowed.

The only thing muffling the screams of the two caught in the attack was the heavy rain around them.

The fire slimmed down till it was gone completely, Lia looked towards the fallen Leona and Torin half buried in the now normal ground, unconscious.

She could sense they were still alive, but she knew they weren't going to get up anytime soon.

She placed a hand to her injury, it was bleeding through the bandages and with the adrenalin gone, Lia was feeling the after effects of it, releasing the seal and using that much magic.

She fell to the ground breathing hard, clutching her self done injury which she knew if she didn't stop the bleeding, she wouldn't make it.

"Eiran is going to have my head if he knew…" Lia whispered to herself as she forced herself to move her head, before she caught sight of her discarded bag at the far edge of the clearing.

She teleported beside it and leaned against the closest tree, as her breath came out heavy and hard.

"I'm getting the craziest ideas today" She whispered as she pulled a towel from her bag and put it in her mouth before lighting a flame in her hand hot enough that it wouldn't be put out by the rain, as she used her magic to remove the make shift bandages…more magic.

She was going to burn the injury to close it, she wished Wendy was here right now, but she couldn't sense the little girl anywhere close.

Her screams were muffled by the towel but she did manage miraculously to stay awake till she managed to close the wound but she then fainted getting lost in the darkness.


	21. The final spurt!

**AN: Thank you for the 20 followers! ^^ I hope you're enjoying the fanfic so far! Now I have a fun challenge if I get two reviews I will upload the next chapter right away! If not I will be... sad but will upload at the end of the week like before! I would love to hear your opinion so please review!**

 **Now Enjoy! ^_^**

Lia had woken up minutes after losing conscious, she had forced herself to move and was now walking while supporting an unconscious Raine, she had left her bag behind since she could barely carry the two of them and the rain was not helping at all, and it wasn't a little shower but a full-blown rainstorm. Just what they needed with tattered cloth and being exhausted.

She had made the bandages for Raine from her clothes like she had done with herself and properly bandaged Raine's shoulder injury, before they moved though.

Lia fell to her knees again as she supported Raine, "Damn it!" She cursed as she breathed hard.

But the wound on Lia's waist, even though was closed, hurt. Add in the fact it was made by her own magic, which made it worse since her magic affected her stronger than it affected others.

She was having a hard time focusing on her surroundings let along use her magic sense. So, she couldn't have seen that she had walked the two of them right into a group of Grimoire heart cloaked wizards till they were surrounded.

Lia cursed as she looked around her…there was too many of them. Never the less, she put Raine down before gathering what little energy she had to force herself to stand, just as some of them ran at her while others send their spells at her.

She never got the chance to fight as suddenly, all the wizards found themselves getting surrounded in crystals from the bottom up, even some of the rain droplets were crystalized.

"You look like hell" Eiran said walking up to her from behind the wizards trapped in crystals on her right, even though he said it jokingly, Eiran was angry upon seeing the state both Lia and the unconscious Raine were in.

"I feel like it too" Lia told him grinning as relief filled her. "So, do you know how any of the others are doing?"

"No, I just came back with Bickslow, Freed and Gildarts" He told her as he walked closer and bent down to pick up Raine "I was making my way to camp with Bickslow and Freed when we saw that flame tower, as far as I know, I didn't even think I would find you conscious let along walking and getting ready to fight"

"I guess I am stronger than you remember" She told him shrugging as he narrowed his eyes, a comment like that Lia would maybe smirk or look proud, but shrugging…that made him think she was hiding something.

"Lia…" He told her warningly "What did you do?"

"The usual fought a psycho dark wizard" She counted on her hand "Finished another one after Raine weakened him, bandaged our injuries" The look he gave her made her know she wasn't getting away with it "I might have run into a little problem in the middle of the fight and had to…release the seal to recover my magic before sealing it again"

"Are you an idiot?!" He yelled at her "You could have died! What were you thinking?!"

"That if I didn't I was going to die" She told him before sighing "Look can we talk about this back at camp? where preferably under some kind of shelter from the rain"

"Fine!" He told her carrying Raine princess style they started walking as he led the way to the camp.

They didn't make it far though, Lia's breath hitched in her throat as the giant tree on the island started falling. "No…" As the tree fell, they fell too. "My magic…" She was feeling weak as her magic got absorbed and she could feel the seal starting to act up.

"Why is this…?" Eiran questioned as he fell beside her on his knees before dropping completely and Raine fell from his hands.

The three of them were on the ground now as the tree completely fell. Lia thought about releasing the seal as she gritted her teeth from the pain that built up from it, but that would do more harm than good.

From where they were, they were closer to the beach, which made seeing the top of the tree fall possible.

She punched the ground "Damn it!" Cursing as well, she froze when even more pain came from her injuries, like it was worse ten time than before, biting her lips to stop a scream. "What the hell is going on? The tree is supposed to give us protection, is what happens when it falls…"

"No" He told her "Someone took control of the tree's enchantment and is reversing it…. it's the only explanation"

That explained it, but it didn't give them a solution. It more of raised dread, the enchantment on the tree wasn't kids' stuff, to control it would mean it was a very strong wizard.

Minutes passed as they struggled with the magic loss and in Lia's case the increasing pain coming from her injuries.

They froze as they stared at the giant ball of fire that had resulted from an explosion, before the explosion started fading into a giant light that shined over the entire island, unknown to everyone Erza had defeated Azuma, the one who had absorbed everyone's magic.

"It's back…" She said as Eiran got up as well.

"Someone must have done something" Eiran stated "Beat whoever destroyed the tree maybe"

Pushing herself up, Lia sat on her knees, she the pain from her injuries wasn't gone but her magic was back now. Eiran picked up Raine like before and pushed their selves till they stood, they needed to make it back to camp, to get Raine help and check on everyone.

"Let's go before something else happens" Eiran told her as she nodded and they started heading to camp again.

All over the island Fairy Tail mages were winning their fights now that their magic power was back.

* * *

Lia and Eiran eventually managed to make their way to camp.

"Everyone…" Lia called as they turned to her, Lisanna, Levy, Bickslow, Freed and Lily were the ones present.

Freed seeing the unconscious Raine carried by Eiran, appeared by his side as he took the unconscious Raine from him, "She's fine…" Eiran assured him "Just exhausted…"

As they walked to the makeshift tent Lia and Eiran were surprised to see all the injured. "How did they…" Lia wondered as Eiran clenched his fists, even Mira was down, Lia's eyes shifted to the unconscious wizard with silver hair outside the tent.

"He attacked us, but we were saved by Bickslow and Freed" Levy told her "Everyone was injured from before though…"

"I am glad you guys are okay" Lia told them, at least someone was.

"This entire thing is a mess" Eiran stated sighing.

"Everyone!" voice called followed by the sound of footsteps running in the rain.

They turned as Natsu carrying Makarov, Lucy supporting an unconscious Cana, along with Wendy, Happy and Carla walked towards them.

"Even Gramps and Cana…" Lia whispered to herself.

"What happened?" Natsu asked as they saw the injured

"Everyone!" Lucy was shocked as well

"I'll use healing magic right away!" Wendy offered but Lia stopped her by putting a hand to her shoulders and shaking her head.

"Don't go pushing yourself, there's too many for you to heal alone…" Lia told the sky dragon slayer, who looked down sadly.

"Don't push yourself, Wendy" Lisanna told her, as the others agreed as well.

"Lisanna, what happened?" Natsu asked

"This guys attacked us here" Lisanna said looking at the silver haired guy "After that, for some unknown reason, our magic powers suddenly disappeared. It was a close call, but Freed and Bickslow fought for us. But even before that, everyone had already been injured here and there…" She started tearing "It's gotten so dire without me even realizing it!"

"Lisanna don't cry." Happy told her "The cheerful characters like us can't cry!" causing them to smile a bit.

"Unforgivable…Completely unforgivable…" Natsu said cracking his knuckles

"So even the master and Cana are casualties…" Freed said

"And we don't know where Erza, Gray and Juvia are…" Eiran said crossing his hands

"What the hell's goin' on here?" Bickslow wondered

"The Grimoire Heart battleship is anchored off to the east" Lily informed them "Considering we need to defend this camp, how about splitting into two teams?"

"One attack team, and one defense team?" Levy wondered

"That's the best way to go about it" Lia agreed "But we're still missing some people and we don't know how many enemies are left wandering the island. Also, everyone is tired" Lia was always ready to go even if tired but there was a good chance the one waiting there was the master of the guild. "So let's take a few minutes to rest first"

"I am ready to go beat them now!" Natsu shouted but he got hit on the head by Lia.

"Idiot!" Eiran said with narrowed eyes "Even Master was defeated; and I doubt one of the bozos everyone beat was behind it. we'll need every speck of magic we can recover" Natsu frowned and crossed his hand but didn't disagree

The others all agreed, and they all separated to rest. Lia took shelter under a tree as she sat down to meditate and recover her magic.

"Lia…" Eiran called her standing in front of her, she opened an eye to look at him "You're not going on the attack team"

Eiran knew what she was thinking, she was too stubborn to sit back at camp while the others were at the frontlines.

"But…" She started standing up to object

"You really didn't think I didn't notice you wincing whenever you moved?" He asked her as she looked up at him stubbornly "Or that your hand keeps going to your bandaged side? I don't know what happened in the fight but your obviously lucky to be even alive!"

Lia's fists clenched beside her but she breathed and used her magic to fix her clothes so that her bandaged side wouldn't be visible. "I don't know any spells that can put a barrier around the camp and even offensively I am not that strong…" She told him "But my enchantments…"

"Put them on the attack team before they leave" He told her

"I can do more there than here" She argued

"Right now, you're not fit to do anything" He told her "As things stand, I am better staying at camp to protect the injured, I won't be there to protect you!"

"I don't need you to protect me all the time! I am a wizard of Fairy Tail and I got selected for the S rank exam, I am not that weak little girl anymore!" She told him glaring but he didn't move or react "Why are you an idiot?!"

She stomped off as she walked back to the tent, where the other were.

* * *

 **Year x780**

"Why are you an idiot?!" The 16 almost 17-year-old Lia yelled at Eiran as Lia stomped off, leaving the guild hall.

The 18-year-old Eiran put back the flyer he had pulled from Lia, he was getting fed up with this, ever since Sophia's death eight months ago, Lia had started going on more jobs solo and after his S rank promotion three months ago, she eventually came to him and Laxus saying she was going to be going on solo jobs from now on.

She was old enough to do what she wanted, but she wasn't strong enough that was a given, even though he would never say it to her, but by all standards she was weak, and with some jobs came the chance of losing your life, he wasn't going to take that chance anymore.

Eiran walked and sat down at the bar, resting his head on his hand. The guild wasn't surprised at those two, they have been fighting like this for a while and most of those who tried to interfere, either ended crystalized to the ground or fell through the ground whenever they took a side.

"How long do you plan to keep this up?" Makarov asked the teenager who stared away stubbornly "She has the right to do what she want"

"She's not strong enough to do protect herself" Eiran replied "With the seal on her…"

"Don't you think that's why she's doing this?" Makarov asked him "That she doesn't want you to keep protecting her, she wants to catch up to you. You can't hold her back, she won't let you and you would end up losing her, just like you're afraid you will."

Eiran stayed silent, he was afraid, he had already lost his family when he was a kid and then just lost Sophia, his second mother, Lia was like his sister, he didn't want to lose her.

"She's been on a team with you and Laxus from the first day, so you two always protected her and she realized before she knew it, that she was too weak to help you, you didn't need her, she's trying to change that. She understands the risks more than anybody, but she's not letting it hold her back" Makarov continued "instead of trying to cage her, help her grow"

Eiran stayed silent, but he was thinking and like most of the time Makarov did have a point.

* * *

 **Year x784**

Eiran thought back to his conversation with Makarov that day, he talked to Lia the next day and he started helping her train, and everything was okay till she went missing after she left for a job at the end of that year, right after they came back from the S rank exams.

He didn't want to lose his family, with everyone injured like that, he felt like it was going to happen.

He was still standing under the tree, but he was surprised when Lia came back running towards him and she tried punching him in the face but he griped her hand and stopped her, she was looking at the ground but not at him.

"You told me you will be waiting at the finish line" She told him "If I had passed and become S rank, this type of danger would be the usual, so did you really mean it when you said you wanted to see me when I make it and pass the exam? Or was it just talk? Can't you really believe in me?"

He did, he just didn't want to lose any more family.

Eiran sighed "This is too depressing" He hit her on the head making her clutch it

"What was that for?!" She yelled back at him

"Asks the one who tried to punch me" He retorted snorting "and that was really slow, you're not planning on going against the dark guild's master with that speed, are you?"

"Eh?" She looked at him surprised as he shrugged

"What's wrong pumpkin head? You don't want to do it anymore?" Eiran teased her as she started trying to punch him angrily.

Fifteen minutes later they gathered at the tent to decide who was going and who was staying.

"The weather is taking a turn for the worse." Lucy noted as Lightning started appearing in the sky, amidst the heavy rain.

"Lightning…I don't like this" Levy agreed beside her, although Lia's thoughts drifted to Laxus, if he was here they would have more chance of a fight.

Lia had gone to rest after five minutes of light banter with Eiran.

Lily was shaking inside the tent as he was teased by Happy and Carla for being scared of Lightning.

"Now then…" Natsu stood up "Let's go beat Hades! Lucy! Happy!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered, Lia stood up as well.

"Me?!" Lucy wondered

"We're one the same team, right?" Happy told her

"I know, but wouldn't Freed be more suitable…" She wondered

"Actually, Freed and Levy are the best ones to have on the defense team" Lia told her

"I can draw defensive runes" Freed told her

"Leave the defenses to us!" Bickslow told them

"I'm staying behind too, I can set temporarily shield till the runes are set" Eiran stated as he shared a look with Lia and they nodded to each other.

"I'll go with Natsu and Lucy!" Wendy stated with determination

"Wait, Wendy!" Carla was about to object

"I think I can at least support Natsu" She replied

"I am going too, my enchantment along with Wendy's would help the attack team better" Lia told them crossing her hands

"I'll go as well" Lily said as he shook "I have to pay them back for Gajeel"

"I'll stay here and help Freed with the runes" Levy stated

"I'll stay beside Mira and Elfman" Lisanna said

"Then that decides things." Freed stated

"We will protect everyone, period!" Bickslow declared

"Lu be careful!" Levy told Lucy

"I've recovered most of my magic power." Lucy stated

"Lia, are you sure you're up for it?" Freed asked her

"You looked like you went through hell with your earlier fight" Bickslow told her

"I can handle it, beside it'd last spurt, right?" She told them "I will rest plenty after"

"Just trust her guys" Eiran told them "And you better come back"

"Hades is properly the only enemy left!" Lisanna stated

"This looks to be the final battle…" Wendy said

"Let's go!" Natsu cheered, before he started running, Lia, Lucy and Wendy ran after him with the exceed flying beside them.

* * *

In the forest, Gray was about to fall when he was caught by Erza.

"Erza…" He stated

"You okay?" Erza asked him

"Looks like I keep getting saved by other people." Gray stated tiredly

"I am no different" She told him as she looked ahead, Natsu, Lia, Lucy, Wendy and the exceeds stood there.

"Everyone!" Gray exclaimed

"Same with me!" Natsu grinned as he told him

"It's the same with me too" Lia stated with a smile as Gray smiled at them.

They ran towards the beach and stopped as they noticed Hades standing at the ship's entrance staring them down, as they glared back at him.

"The 3rd generation Fairy Tail!" He called them "Come, if you dare, Makarov's brood!" He turned around going inside.

"You come down here!" Natsu demanded

"He thinks he's all that!" Gray said

"He's the one who hurt the master!" Erza said

"We'll make him regret stepping on this island" Lia said as she clenched her fists.

"If we can teach that guy a lesson, then we can all leave the island safely, right?" Wendy asked

"Yup! We'll all get out of here!" Lucy said looking down at her

"Happy…I have a request for you guys!" Natsu said to the exceed "Search around the ship for the power source and destroy it"

"It'd be a problem if it started to fly again…" Happy told him "For you Natsu" Natsu looked away embarrassed.

"Understood" Carla said

"Leave it to us!" Lily said

"I'll cast Troia on you just in case." Wendy stated but Lia patted her head

"I will handle it, you save your magic for the fight" Lia winked the younger girl, before putting her hand on Natsu's head. "Body Enchant: Balance!" Natsu blinked "This should stop the motion sickness for now" she then turned around gripped everyone's hands.

"Body enchant: Celero! Robur! Defendo! Reflex!" She cast her enchantments. "Speed, Strength, Defense, and reflexes" She explained since she had never been on a mission with Wendy "This should increase them"

"Thanks Lia!" Natsu said cracking his knuckle.

"Let's get this party started!" Gray said as he gathered his magic "Here we go!" He made them a staircase to the top of the ship, as they all started running to the top.

"He's a wizard on an even higher level than our master!" Erza told them as they climbed "We're going all out from the start, at the same time!"

"Right!" Wendy replied

"I'll give him every last bit of power I have!" Gray said

"We don't have time to think about what comes afterwards!" Lucy said

"We'll make sure to pay him for hurting our family" Lia said

"I finally get to punch this guy" Natsu said "I am all fired up!" Natsu's hands was lit with flame as soon as he reached the top "Hades! Taste the power of Fairy Tail!"

Natsu threw fire at Hades, who blocked it easily.

"Fairy Tail's power?" Hades wondered as they jumped at him

Erza requiped to her black wing armor and threw an attack at him, followed by Lia who used her magic burst spell, they both hit Hades. Gray followed using his frozen Excalibur and slashed at him.

"Open: Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!" Lucy called as she held out her key and Taurus appeared, and took a swing at Hades with his giant axe.

Wendy gave Lia, Erza and Gray support, as Gray and Erza went in for another attack at Hades. Hades barely dodged the attacks as Lia teleported behind him.

"Explosion!" He took the full hit before Jumping back. Erza appeared behind him again and slashed at him as he dodged.

"Annoying brats!" Hades said as he used his magic and it went around Erza's neck before he swung her towards Gray, but Lia teleported beside them, destroying the magic chain and Erza managed to catch herself as Natsu appeared above Hades.

"Wing slash of the fire dragon!" Natsu shouted as headed right towards him.

The attack hit, but Hades wasn't fazed as he flipped in the air, and used the chain magic on Natsu to sling him into the air.

Erza requiped into her hakama, cut the chain. Lia stood to the side gathering her magic as Gray created an Ice hammer for Natsu as a foothold "Natsu!" Gray called "Go!"

"Roar of the sky Dragon!" Wendy said as Lucy summoned Scorpio and the two attacks mixed together.

"Magic burst: Heaven's light!" Lia threw her attack and it mixed with the two, Hades was surprised to see a unison raid between three mages. The three attacks swirled around Natsu who was engulfed in flames to give him more speed as he headed towards Hades.

"Sword Edge of the fire dragon!" Natsu shouted as he came out of the unison raid and hit Hades sending the old man flying backwards to crash into the wall.

Lia controlled her breath as she waited with the others to see if that was enough to take Hades down.

"People say that their mistakes become experience" Hades said as he walked forward shocking all of them to see he wasn't fazed at all, Lia had her sensing on and despite his magic power, their attacks should have had some effect. "But a true mistake does not leave one with any experience. For those who make the mistake of facing me, they have no future left at all."

"That's…" Wendy covered her mouth in shock

"Not even a scratch?!" Lucy asked shocked

Lia clenched her fists as she stared at him, her friends murmured in worry. But Lia froze when she sensed the change in his magic power, Natsu did as well since he could smell it.

"Now then…" Hades started "I think that should be enough warm-up exercises" The entire place started shaking as he allowed his magic to spike exponentially, Lia had to stop her sensing, just to make sure she wouldn't fall from the pressure.

"Brace yourself!" Erza told them as they got ready.

Hades yelled and before any of them could blink, Wendy suddenly vanished with only her cloth being left behind.

"Wendy!" Natsu shouted as they all stared eyes wide.

"Destroyed without even a trace left? Pitiful" Hades said "Maybe I will just erase the rest of you one at a time."

"Wendy" Lucy said.

"What the hell have you done?" Gray asked, Lia was frozen still not believing the little girl was gone.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Natsu said frustrated

" 'Everyone, Please calm down' " A voice said as they stared shocked at the source coming from the roof "'I am safe' she says" Horologium was on the ceiling, Lia let her sensing on, and let a relived sigh when she sensed Wendy coming from up there as well, before turning her sensing off with the pressure still coming from Hades.

"Horologium" Lucy said

"Thank goodness" Gray said

"My automatic emergency danger avoidance mode has been activated" Horologium told them

"Um…I kind of remember being in a whole lot of danger myself…" Lucy stated disbelieving

"The danger level was far greater this time." He replied "I am very sorry. 'Thank you very much, Horologium!' She says"

"Just as annoyingly roundabout as always…" Gray said

"What matters is Wendy is safe" Lia said

"And wait why are her clothes all that's left?" Natsu asked

"As it was an emergency, I only had time to protect her physical body" He explained as Lia frowned

"Wait, then that means…" Gray said, as Horologium exclaimed Wendy's shriek before he promised to give her new clothes.

"Anyway, we're in your dept. I give you our thanks" Erza said

"I can only protect you this once." He told them "Everyone, please be very careful" He then disappeared as Wendy now wearing a different outfit dropped down.

"Thank you, Horologium!" Lucy thanked him as Wendy landed beside them

"So this is Makarov's brood, eh?" Hades said "This will be fun after all…" Lia narrowed her eyes at him.

"You know Gramps?" Natsu asked him

"What? He didn't tell you?" Hades asked "Are there no records of me left in the guild's library, I wonder?"

"Why would there be records of you?" Lia wondered with furrowed eyebrows.

"I was once the 2nd master of Fairy Tail" He stroked his beard as their eyes widened "I took the name Precht."

"Liar!" Natsu growled

"One eye…that magic chain…" Lia stated as she recalled what she read about the second master with wide eyes.

"I was the one that chose Makarov as the 3rd master" He told them

"As if we'd believe that!" Natsu shouted

"It's true…" Lia said surprising her friends "Precht Gaebolg, one of Fairy Tail's founders and second master, his right eye covered by an eye patch and one of his magic is chain magic…" She recited from memory "I read about him in my great grandfather's journal…" while Lucy and Wendy were confused about that the other three's eyes widened.

"A Sephiran?" Hades assumed considering her Orange hair and the fact of the journal "I guess you will be seeing hello to my old friend for me when I send you to the afterlife with your friends!"

He ran at them and attacked them, Lia and Wendy were thrown to the ground before they realized it, As Lia was getting up he knocked down Erza and Lucy.

Before he started firing magic at Natsu and Gray from his fingertips. "I dance with magic!" He told them as he kept shooting rapidly and they kept getting knocked down.

Lia was still recovering from her Heaven's light spell so she couldn't gather magic to teleport or to even destroy the shots, and some of the shots were hitting her injured side.

Hades laughed as they all laid down on the ground before the shooting stopped finally. "Do fairies have tails? An eternal mystery…an eternal adventure" He said "As I recall, that was the reasoning behind the name of the guild…" He started walking forward until he stopped at Natsu, who looked upwards at him "But your journey will end soon." Hades stomped on Natsu's head. "Mavis's will was entrusted to me. And my will was entrusted to Makarov. But that was a mistake. Makarov changed the guild!"

Lia gathered her magic from she was on the ground.

"What's wrong with change?" Natsu asked

"He exposed magic to too much sunlight!" Hades said

"That's our Fairy Tail!" Natsu replied "We ain't a living corpse like you! We live our lives by putting everything on the line, bastard! If you don't have the courage to change, then just stop right there!"

"Pipe down, little devil!" Hades said as he shot Natsu in the leg

"Natsu!" Gray called as Hades shot Natsu a few more times.

"Stop it!" Lucy shouted

"It is Makarov's fault that you will die suffering!" Hades told them

"Don't you dare hurt them!" Lia shouted before she teleported in front of Natsu and Hades "Explosion!" Hades was thrown back as Lia landed on her knees.

A magic chain came out of the smoke and held her before she was thrown against the ground a little distance away from her friends, her friends called her name as she gritted her teeth.

She landed on the ground and pushed herself to her knees., as Hades started walking towards her.

"Do you want to die so badly?" Hades asked her

"The power of feelings …the power to protect your friends" Lia said between breath "I only read about you and the other founders, but Gramps he made all that show in the guild, he made it into a family! Light and Dark doesn't matter, what we feel is what does! So, don't you dare say Gramps as a master was a mistake! He's the best Master this guild has ever seen!"

"I am sure you will meet him in the afterlife soon enough!" Hades said as Lia glared at him while Hades raised his fingers gathering his magic into one shot to kill her "And this where the Sephiran line ends!"

"Don't kill her!" Lucy yelled

"Stay away from her!" Erza shouted

While Natsu and Gray shouted her name, Lia just glared at the man, with all her emotion showing in her eyes, as Hades got prepared to fire.

The ship was struck by lightning suddenly, which had the group gasping, the lightning moved around the ship before it hit Hades's arm which he was going to shoot Lia with.

A large bolt hit between Lia and Hades, which made her eyes widen as she saw the blonde standing in front of her, before they watered a bit.

"So this is the guy who hurt my old man?" Laxus said

"Laxus…" Lia whispered with tears in the corner of her eyes

"Hey old man, no one hurts her without having to deal with me!" Laxus said head butting Hades with full force to send him backwards.


	22. Dawn on Tenroujima!

**AN: I didn't get the reviews :( *sigh* I would love to hear your opinion guys**

 **anyway enjoy the new chapter! :D**

Lia stared with relief as Laxus stared defiantly at Hades after he had caught himself on his feet.

"Laxus…" Gray said

"Laxus has come for us!" Lucy added relieved as well

"That person is the Master's grandson?" Asked Wendy, who had heard about him from the people in the guild.

"Brat." Hades called "Related to Makarov, are we?" Laxus didn't reply as he narrowed his eyes and lightning cackled around him.

"Pitiful…" Laxus said "Looks like this guy totally wiped the floor with all of ya."

"I've missed you too" Lia told him sarcastically making him fight a grin as kept facing Hades.

Natsu blinked for a moment before he grinned "No kidding!"

"Why are you here?" Erza asked him

"Came to visit the founder's grave" He answered "I used to be in Fairy Tail, if you remember." His words bought a smile to Erza's and Lia's face, Lia did wonder if her message had made its way to him "I came here to visit Mavis's grave. And look what I found…The 2nd master's here, too. Since you're here and all, maybe I'll make you a grave, too!" Sparks danced around his body again as he built up his magic.

"Hmph. Honestly, now." Hades said "Never thought the boy would have such a stuck-up grandkid." Hades started building his magic as well, the others stayed on the ground watching, as hope started to grow inside them. Lia decided to try and gather some magic again just in case, even though she knew she was pushing it.

The two standing mages started clashing with Laxus landing the first hit followed by a few other. They moved across the ship as they fought, but as Laxus went for another hit, Hades dodged.

"You move fairly well." Hades commented "And that magic power, too. To think the boy had someone other than Gildarts at this level."

Laxus scoffed "The old man once told me that when facing a strong opponent: 'It doesn't matter how strong the guy is. What's more important is standing up to him.', Ain't that right, Natsu?"

"You bet!" Natsu agreed

"Foolishness." Hades scoffed "Sounds like the excuse of a weakling to me. You've had a chance to warm up, yes?" He motioned Laxus forward "Now come at me, youngster!" Laxus grinned as he cracked his knuckles.

"This'll be fun." Laxus said.

* * *

Back at the camp the tent with the injured under with surrounded with a crystal dome, as Freed and Levy wrote the runes outside of it.

"If there's even a small gap in the defensive runes, they lose all purpose" Freed told Levy "It's crucial they are precise. Make sure to check the fine details as you fill them in."

"Right!" Levy nodded as she set to work

Inside the Dome, Lisanna was bandaging Elfman.

"You should really lie down again, Elfman" She told him

"I've rested plenty." Elfman replied "I could at least stand watch…"

"Just rest, we'll handle it" Eiran told him as he walked towards them after opening a door in the dome and closing behind them, he had just gotten rid of a few wolves that were lurking too near.

"besides you were crying out in your sleep" Lisanna teased him " 'Eva! Eva!' …" Elfman was blushing red

"Aw, I was just kidding!" Lisanna said holding her laughter

"One day it's going to be your turn, Lis and we're going to enjoy it" Eiran told her, knowing how it feels to be in Elfman's shoes

"Man, you guys are sure takin' it easy." Bickslow said from outside the dome "Easy, easy" his dolls repeated

"And where the hell were you?" Elfman shouted at him

"I got rid of the glasses guy who was out for the count." Bickslow replied "If he had some kind of Body Link he'd have given away our position."

"Good work with that." Freed told him "We will proceed along."

"You've taken some damage, too" Levy told him "Maybe you could rest a bit?"

"When I think about how they gotta feel invading enemy territory, this ain't nothin'" Bickslow told her, just as he was attacked

"What?" Freed was shocked

"That's…" Levy stated "…Easter Solid script!"

"Enemies" Eiran stated getting outside of the dome, as they stared at the two wizards, as the second one started firing eggs at them.

When the dust cleared, the dome was still standing "Going to need something stronger to break it" Eiran yelled smirking

"A sneak attack?" Elfman questioned supported by Lisanna

"Looks like we've already been traced." Freed stated

"These guys should have been defeated by Gajeel!" Levy told them

Just as the solid script wizard stopped to the side "Though I lost my sword, that does not change the manner of my battle!" He told them, as he erased the defensive runes

They were surprised though when the crystal dome was destroyed from the other side and the attack went straight for Elfman.

"What the…?" Eiran was shocked

"Master Hades will be angry if we stay defeated!" said the new wizard that walked into the clearing

Just as zombies started rising around them taking them by shock.

"Where is she?!" The female wizard walked into the clearing with a dark eyes man beside her, she had a crazed angry look as she stared at them "I want my revenge!"

"And that's not all!" the solid script wizard told them "Thanks to all the damage you guys have done…"

"…if we accomplish something now," added his chicken partner "we'll definitely get promoted into the 7 kin of purgatory-pero!"

Levy was getting ready to fight back but Freed stopped her.

"We have to restore the runes, first!" Freed told her as she objected Freed turned to Bickslow "How long are you gonna stay down? We're counting on you!"

"Leave it to me!" Bickslow shouted standing up "Go, my babies!" as his dolls started hitting the chicken wizard, his partner though used a defense spell, just as Lisanna attacked the third wizard.

Eiran stopped all the zombies by crystalizing them. He stared at the two in front of him, they were burned severely and were clearly injured, but what intrigued him was the strange fact that the man's eyes were completely black, including his eye's white, and the burned magic circle on his cheek.

"Leona and…previously, Torin" Eiran stated to them, Lia had told him the outlines of her fight during the time they rested, and given the zombies and the scythe the man was carrying and his black eyes, Leona properly turned him to her puppet.

Leona stared at him "I don't know you" She hissed at him "Give me that girl, I want her dead!"

"We don't know each other, but…" Eiran glared at her "You did almost kill my sister and you'll pay for that"

He appeared in front of her with crystal clad hands as he was about to punch her but he was stopped by Torin's scythe.

Eiran jumped back and landed on his feet before Torin ran at him, and as Torin kept swinging his scythe, Eiran dodged and tried to counter.

* * *

On the ship, the fight between Laxus and Hades kept going back and forth, while Hades seemed to be having the upper hand. When suddenly multiple magic circles surrounded Laxus formed by Hades, Lia used her sense and her eyes widened at the amount of magic growing in them.

"This is an Amaterasu formation…!" Laxus said

"Scatter and fall!" Hades said as he activated formula.

"Laxus!" Lia called but the blast of the attack was so strong it hit her and the sent her flying till she hit the wall of the ship, everyone grunted as they recovered from getting thrown by the blast.

"Those who are hit by it lose all power in their limbs, and it is impossible for them to move at all." Hades said "Even if you defend against it, your magic power will be wiped out." When a bolt of lightning shot out from the smoke cloud, Hades was shocked while Lia was relieved.

Laxus appeared in that bolt behind Hades and kicked the man, Hades went crashing into the ground, as Laxus landed on his feet.

"Whoa!" Gray said smiling

"He really knows how to make someone worry" Lia whispered to herself letting out a breath.

"That power was just from one leg." Laxus said as Hades started to stand "I've got another one. And both my arms! I have my head, and my entire body. If I attack with all of them at once, we're not talking two or three time stronger…Wanna try me?"

"Nice speech!" Hades said as he fully stood "Is this the confidence of youth? But youth is not what needed to walk the path of magic!" The two jumped towards each other to clash again as the others watched.

* * *

"I have to give it you" Eiran said standing back "You're strong and I think if you're weren't being controlled you would've been stronger, but…" Eiran waved his hand as five magic circles appeared around them with Eiran in the center "Barrier of dispersion" Four crystal pillars fell around them and the connected with crystal locking Eiran and Torin in "Crystal Barrage!"

Leona didn't know what was going on, the moment Eiran casted the spell inside the barrier everything was hid behind the swarms of blue crystal shards flying inside. She did know by the time it stopped she had already felt her spell on Torin had disappeared and her suspicion was confirmed when the barrier disappeared and only Eiran stood not harmed by the spell.

"This is it for you" Eiran told her as Leona stared wide eyed, she was beat by his sister and now him, in the sky above them the wizard the girls were fighting was falling away from them "Crystal Lance!" The crystal beams hit Leona straight on before she could react and she was thrown backwards, landing unconscious on receiving a strong blow with her injuries.

Laxus and Hades clashed repeatedly before pushing back away from each other, before Laxus fell to his knees, as Lia gasped in worry.

"Oh? What's the matter?" Hades asked "It's a little too soon to be bending knee to me after the boasting you just did."

"Laxus!" Natsu called

"Wait, don't tell me…" Erza said

"He got hit by that magic earlier!" Lucy finished in realization.

Which meant he wouldn't be able to move, but Laxus let out a weak chuckle. "The world…sure is vast." Laxus said "To think there'd be monsters like this in the world…I've got a long way to go."

"What the hell are you saying?!" Natsu asked

"Get it together, Laxus!" Gray added.

Laxus never gave up, Lia knew that…so she wondered what did he mean?

"You've done well, Laxus" Hades said then he held his hand to prepare to cast another spell "But that ends now. You shall now disappear!"

"Stand up, Laxus!" Erza yelled as he didn't budge

"Get away!" Lia yelled

"But I'm…" Laxus started as he hit the ground "…not a member of Fairy Tail anymore."

"Dodge it!" Lucy yelled

"You can't let yourself be hit by that!" Wendy called

"Laxus!" Gray called

"It's okay to get pissed…" Laxus said "…when the old man got done in, right?" Lia's eyes widened as the others were surprised too.

"Hell yeah, it is!" Natsu yelled

Laxus smiled as he started gathering his magic around him.

Lia sensed it, not just the magic coming from Hades but what was Laxus was planning as he gathered his own magic. She gritted her teeth before using the little magic she had gathered appeared in front of Laxus causing his eyes to widen.

She was barely holding her own standing, but she raised her hands in front of her "Destroy!" The magic circle appeared in front of her, just as Hades's beam hit. "Idiot!" She had tears streaming down her face "Fairy Tail is still your home; Gramps is still your Gramps…" She could feel her magic was cracking "So why are you spouting that nonsense for!" as Hades spell was going to pass through but she would weaken it as much as possible. She held for a few seconds more, as Laxus sent his magic towards Natsu just as her spell was overpowered.

Natsu gasped as Laxus's lightning hit him as the blast hit and everyone was sent backwards.

"Laxus! Lia!" Erza called out as the dust cleared enough for them to see both Laxus and Lia fall backwards into a hole in the floor.

"My anger…Natsu" Laxus said just as they hit the deck below.

Natsu stood up as lightning cackled around him. "Thanks for…the meal."

"Electrified?" Hades wondered

"That's all of my magic power." Laxus said

"What?" Gray wondered

"He gave his magic power to Natsu?" Erza asked surprised

"He ate lightning?" Lucy asked "I heard he got sick from it last time…"

"Why…to me…?" Natsu asked "I'm…weaker than you Laxus…"

"It ain't about being strong or weak." Laxus told him "Who was it that got hurt?" Lia turned her head to look at Laxus "It's gotta be someone with the mark of the guild, damn it! It's the guild that'll pay him back for the pain suffered by the guild!" Laxus smiled at Natsu "100 times over." Lia smiled

Natsu raised his hand to cover his tears "Yeah" Natsu replied and his body was covered in his flames as well as lightning.

"A fusion of flame and lightning." Wendy gasped "The thunder-flame Dragon!"

"It's payback…times 100" Natsu said

Lia's eyes were threatening to close, as she felt the pain from her entire body especially her self-made injury, she was out of magic too and she had pushed it too far that the pain was starting to come from her seal.

She let out ragged breath as she laid on the lower deck beside Laxus.

"Idiot, why would you even jump in front of that spell?" Laxus asked her, although Lia smiled, out everyone here taking that spell head on would have killed her, but this exam made her more resilient…

"Look who's talking" She retorted at him "You were going to take it head on, with no magic! At least I tried to weaken it!"

"Still…You could've…" Laxus said but Lia interrupted him.

"I didn't…besides…" Her hand was on her injury which was bugging her the most "That wouldn't have been the worst I faced today…"

Laxus huffed. "I realize that, your gift worked" He murmured as Lia closed her eyes

"Glad to hear that…" Her voice fading away, with the letter she had sent to him was a card that she got from Cana when they came back from Edolas, one of a pair that would tell the other if the person was in real danger. She had planned on it being the other way around though when she sent it, considering Edolas.

She barely registered Natsu fighting as she drifted to unconscious, the pain and tiredness finally winning over her will, though she could feel her name being called.

* * *

Lia blinked her eyes after opening them…her magic was returning and even some of the pain was ebbing away.

"What the…?" She wondered as she pushed herself to a sitting position, she was surprised to see the destroyed ship even though she was on a lower deck, but realized why she woke up when she saw the Tenrou tree back, as her guild mark shined.

"You had me scared there for a minute" Laxus said from beside her as she chuckled

"Natsu really made a mess of the place" She said but frowned when she sensed Hades was still here.

Just as Natsu's mark stopped shining he looked at Hades, and jumped at him. "We win!"

Hades hit Natsu in the face and sent him backwards. "Listen up!" He shouted before kicking Natsu "For those who have walked the path of magic, the devil will never sleep!"

He was shocked when Laxus appeared in front of him and punched him.

"Do it!" Laxus yelled "Fairy Tail!"

Natsu activated his thunder-flame dragon, just as Hades pushed Laxus back and Lia teleported behind Hades, as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Body enchant: Crumble! Colligo!"

"This might be the final attack!" Erza said

"Let's blast him with all the magic power we got back!" Gray added as Lia was thrown away by Hades before she teleported while midair.

"You'll face my wrath for all of this!" Hades yelled as he gathered his magic and fired at them, Lia appeared in front of the attack though.

"Destroy!" She successfully got rid of it, just as Lucy summoned Capricorn, who attacked Hades.

"I learned this from watching!" Wendy said as he jumped behind him "Wing slash of the Sky dragon!"

As the wind hit him, he was sent thrown backwards and he rolled on the ground, till he ended up under Gray who had jumped in the air and was gathering his magic. "Ice magic sword!" He then created two swords of Ice.

He slashed at Hades who cried out in pain. "Ice bringer!" Gray finished and Hades fell to the ground.

"Requip!" Erza shouted as she ran towards Hades "Heaven's wheel" She dashed forwards holding her two swords in hand to slice at Hades as well. "Pentagram sword!"

Hades managed to catch himself on his feet, but he ended up right in front of Lia "Magic burst: Heaven's light!" The beams of light hit him and threw him backwards, but he turned around just as he sensed Natsu.

Hades tried to use Grimoire Law, but he didn't make it "New Secret Dragon Slayer Art!" Natsu said as he had one hand covered in Lightning and the other in fire "Crimson Exploding Lightning Edge!" The two elements mixed in a swirl the engulfed Hades, just as the sun rose, they all smiled at Natsu who had finished him off.

"Gramps…" Natsu said as he fell to his knees "We showed them" Lia smiled towards the Natsu, breathing a sigh of relief. "We showed them the power of the guild putting everything on the line." Natsu cheered as team Natsu rushed towards him.

Lia smiled at them from where she sat on the ground, she couldn't move right now though.

"This is our Guild!" Natsu cheered.

They all took the moment to celebrate their victory as the morning settled in.

"It's over…" Gray said

"Yeah" Erza agreed requiping to her normal armor

"We won, didn't we?" Wendy asked

"Yeah we did" Lia answered the girl from where she sat as Wendy smiled back at her. As Lucy handed Natsu his scarf though they turned to see the exceed running towards them.

"Everyone!" Carla called as Happy was crying

"Save me, Natsu!" Happy called

Lia groaned as she saw the mages running after the three exceed. "This isn't good." Gray said

"Curses…We really have zero magic left" Erza said

"That and we're all injured" Lia added

"Sorry, but I am also out of magic power." Lily told them

"They're all angry!" Happy said

"Well, I don't really blame them." Carla said, Lia though sighed when she sensed the familiar people come abroad.

"That's far enough!" Makarov said as he led everyone behind him minus Gildarts and Juvia.

"Gramps!" Natsu called, Lia sighed in relief. Eiran stood beside Mira, and Raine beside Freed.

"Everyone!" Lucy called

"Master! And Gajeel-san, too!" Wendy said

"I'm glad you're all safe!" Gray said

"Yes" Erza agreed "With the island returned to normal, so is its divine protection…"

"You did miss all the fun!" Lia told them they were all glad to see their friends okay and even Happy was jumping in joy.

Makarov glared towards the enemy still left. They all mumbled in worry, more so when they noticed the defeated Hades.

"Get off this island this instant!" Makarov ordered them, and the group of Grimoire hearts took off running.

Everyone in the guild cheered, Raine and Levy both went towards Lucy, relived to see the blonde okay and likewise.

Lia was towered over by Eiran, who frowned at how beat up she looked. "Honestly…"

"Well I am alive…" Lia retorted, before he offered her a hand and she accepted as he pulled her to her feet.

"I supposed you did a good job" He told her before ruffling her already disheveled hair, his eyes did drift though to Laxus as Makarov shouted at him. "This is gonna be fun to watch" He grinned as he saw the annoyed look on Laxus's face, while Lia rolled her eyes, before she smirked herself.

"He's going to get crushed" Lia commented holding back her laugh along with Eiran as Laxus was jumped by the thunder tribe.

"What are you two laughing at?!" Laxus shouted at them as he noticed them, Raine had gone towards Lia and hugged her.

"Are you really okay?" Lia asked the pinkette who nodded "Sorry I didn't make it back to help in time"

"Never mind that" Raine told her smiling "It's over now!"

"Okay! Time to continue the exam!" Natsu shouted grapping their attention.

"Where does her get the energy?" Lia asked frowning as Eiran deadpanned beside her.

"Don't ask me" He answered, before they sweat drop as Natsu fell to the ground

"And there it goes…" Raine finished, as Erza concluded it must be a side effect from the eating something other than flames.

"Anyway, shall we return to the camp?" Wendy suggested as Freed and Bickslow helped support Laxus

"We have to rest a bit or our bodies won't hold up" Carla added

"A rest seems like a good idea" Lia said before she started falling to the side but was held by Eiran "I don't think I can walk back" Eiran frowned at the fact her seal was acting up.

"If it weren't for the tree, I doubt you'd be even awake, we're going to be increasing your training when we head back!" He told her sternly as she sweat dropped, before he carried her on his back.

Everyone agreed with the exceed, so they started heading back to camp, as they left Lucy to help the unconscious Natsu, as she demanded help her friends ignored her.

Lia chuckled before she decided to enjoy herself "So when are you going to tell her?" Lia asked

"I will drop you! And you can crawl back to camp!" He threatened her making her sweat drop and chuckle nervously.


	23. Acnologia!

"This is the best I can do for now" Wendy told Lia as she finished helping her with her burned injury "You'll have to let it heal with time"

"Thanks Wendy, it feels better already" Lia told her getting up as Happy took her place.

She watched as Juvia come back and how she asked Gray to punish her, before her head turned to Laxus getting laughed at by Gildarts and Eiran.

"By the way…You went and got expelled?" Gildarts asked him laughing at him "Lame!"

"Shut up, you old fart!" Laxus retorted

"You have to admit it though…for someone who kept saying they were the strongest, it's funny you got expelled" Eiran said laughing "and you even got beaten by Natsu!"

Speaking of the devil, Natsu came jumping "Gildarts! Fight me!" Natsu yelled, his hair in twin-tails, before he got punched into the ground by Gildarts, causing those who watched to dead pan.

"You should rest." Gildarts told Natsu

As Juvia kept on chasing Gray, all the injured including the now beaten again Natsu, were sitting in line to get healed by Wendy.

Till Erza came dressed as a nurse "Wendy, switch places." Erza told her

"Erza, that outfit…" Wendy started shocked

"You don't have any healing power!" Carla told her

"Difference in ability doesn't matter during battle, Wendy." Erza said determined "It's your heart that is tested."

"Erza, we don't need any more injured" Lia told her sweat dropping knowing Erza wasn't the gentlest around.

As Erza sat down as all the guys were lured in and lined up in front of her.

"H-Hey… isn't it good to rest a bit?" Levy tried to cheer up the depressed Wendy "Right?"

"Wendy, you might want to watch this" Lia told the younger girl "They're about to learn how good of a healer Erza really is"

Gray and Gajeel ended up tied with bandages almost getting strangled by it as Erza kept pulling.

After they all got changed from the rags that was left of their clothes, Lia ended up wearing a knee length brown pants and a wide buttoned long sleeved light blue shirt. They retrieved their stuff from around the island, before they were gathered by Makarov for an announcement.

"Everyone, brace yourselves and listen well!" Makarov told them he was standing on a tower of boxes as everyone stood on the ground "I have an extremely important announcement to make. From the day after we return to the guild from Tenroujima…I'm gonna introduce a women's only dress code!" He stated jumping around happily "You gotta choose between a nurse outfit or a school swimsuit!"

Lia clenched her fists angrily "Gramps!"

"I ain't heard about this!" Lucy shouted as Raine was blushing red beat

"I see. Sounds like fun." Erza stated

"Don't encourage him!" Lucy yelled at her "You're supposed to be mad about this!"

"Erza doesn't get mad about what she has to wear" Lia told her dead panning at the oblivious red head.

"Master…This is no time for jokes." Mira said threating from behind him.

"I'm sorry! I was just caught up…" Makarov said before he told them the actual news.

"What?!" yelled Natsu, Gray, Elfman and Gajeel

"Like I said! The S class wizard Advancement Exam is on hold!" Makarov told them

"I can't accept that, Gramps!" Gray said

"Why is it on hold?" Natsu shouted

"Make me S class, damn it!" Gajeel yelled

"You're not even a candidate! You mean Levy, got it?!" Elfman told him

"What else can I do?" Makarov asked them "A lot's happened."

"A member of the magic council infiltrated the candidates" Mira counted "and Grimoire Heard disrupted everything…"

"I guess we have no choice." Levy said

"Hey! You're really okay with this, damn it?!" Gajeel yelled at her

"And you shouldn't be so worked up about it." Lily told him

"Well given everything it's for the best" Lia said sighing as she stood beside Eiran

"Well, I ain't givin' up!" Natsu yelled "I'm gonna be S class, no matter what! Gray, Elfman, Levy and Lia all gave up, right? Then I'll become S class! I'm gonna be S class!" Laughing crazily.

"He's lost it" Eiran said as Lia nodded

"Calm down, Natsu." Happy told him

"Guess I got no choice…" Makarov said "Let's start the final test right now, special! Beat me and I'll make you S class, Natsu."

"seriously, Gramps?!" Natsu asked "Okay! I'm all fired up!" just as he jumped towards Makarov he was one hit into a tree.

A few minutes later, after the news, Lia walked around and saw Wendy, Carla and Raine watching Laxus from behind a tree as he kept pulling on Lisanna's cheeks.

"What're you doing?" Lisanna asked him

"Well, I was wondering whether you were the real deal." He told her before patting her head

"I am! How rude!" Lisanna replied

"Don't bully her too much, I'll feel sorry for her." Evergreen told him as Lisanna started punching and Laxus blocked her easily.

"I'm kind of scared just to say hi, Carla, Raine." Wendy said

"Huh? What are you scared of?" Carla asked

"Well considering what we heard" Raine said nervously, the three of them still not aware of Lia behind them till she coughed to get their attention.

"You know he isn't a bad guy" Lia told them "He just…awkward" finding it the best word

"Lia!" Wendy said

"He's a really good guy" She winked towards them "Trust me!"

Wendy and Raine brightened and went ahead to introduce themselves, while Lia knew it was time she kept to her word with Makarov.

She found him away from everyone, "Gramps!" She called, he half turned to her before looking ahead "Don't you think you should let him back in?"

"I knew that what you would talk about" He replied "I have nothing to say to him. For someone who's supposed to be exiled he sure is daring enough to lay foot on the guild's holy land."

"He atoned for what he did" Lia argued "If it weren't for him…"

"I heard about his fight with Hades." Makarov replied "He sacrificed himself by becoming a shield to save all of you from danger. I'm not disregarding his efforts, and I'm grateful for it. However, this gratitude's only extended in respect to an outsider unrelated to our guild"

"You're just being stubborn, Gramps" Lia told him

"He's stubborn when it comes to protecting the guild" Laxus said as he leaned against a tree behind her "It how the guild stood all this time. All I did was lend a helping hand. Nothing more." Lia stared at him "Don't worry about it. I just happened to stumble upon this place by mistake during my travel." They both knew that was a lie, Lia was the one that told him in her letter where they were going and she had sent that card as well "I never planned to stick around for long."

Lia rolled her eyes, those two were more alike than they thought, both too stubborn for their own good, was what Lia though as she stared at the ground sighing.

"Hey, old man!" Laxus called as Makarov turned to look at him "That's it. That's the expression. At least I won't have to see that glum face of yours anymore. Later."

"Wait!" Lia called as he turned around to leave, they both stopped when they heard the weird rumble, Lia turned her sensing on and she felt the huge magic concentration in the air coming towards them from a far, what worried her that she managed to feel it, when the source was still a distance away "This magic it feels like…Dragon!"

The three of them started making their way back to camp, just as the loud rumbling increased.

"Lia are you sure what you sensed?" Makarov asked her as she nodded

"It definitely feels like what I sense in Laxus, Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel" Lia confirmed "And it's coming closer"

"Damn it!" Laxus cursed

They made it back to camp just as the dragon descended through the clouds.

"The black dragon of the apocalypse…" Makarov stated staring at it "Could it be Acnologia?"

"Yeah, it's him all right." Gildarts confirmed

"The dragons really do exist…" Lucy wondered

"They existed" Eiran stated "Just no one thought there were still living dragons"

"You there! You know where Igneel is right now, don't you?!" Natsu shouted "And Grandine and Metallicana, too!"

"Knock it off, Natsu!" Gildarts yelled grapping Natsu by the shoulders "Don't provoke him! I've told you before how my arm, no, my entire body became like this."

"Lia…" Raine whispered as she stared at Lia who was shaking slightly and her breathing ragged.

"Lia!" Eiran grasped her shoulders and was surprised at the heat her body was emitting because of the seal "Stop sensing right now" He shook her which brought her back to her senses as she stopped, the magic coming from the dragon was too much it started affecting her and causing her to draw too much magic with no need.

"I am fine" She told him looking up at the dragon, Laxus stared at her before he looked up as did Eiran. If Lia had to say, she would rather they fought Hades a thousand times than face that thing.

"It's coming down!" Freed yelled as they stared at the descending dragon

"That's not the dragon Natsu and the rest love! It's much more evil!" Happy yelled, evil was putting it lightly was what Lia thought.

The dragon landed right in front of them "Yeah, that's right! This one's the nemesis of all humankind!" Gildarts told them

"Are we gonna have to fight him?" Natsu asked

"No, that's not it, Natsu." Gildarts told him "We should no longer be thinking about winning or losing but focus on how to best escape from him. No, in fact, we should be wondering who'd be able to survive this encounter."

"Out of all of us here, are you trying to say that some of us will be killed by this thing?!" Natsu asked him

"This is bad! All of you get out of here!" Gildarts yelled at them

"Master!" Mira called holding Lisanna just as the dragon let out an attack. Most of them were thrown back, but Lia ended up being held by Laxus as he kept her from flying off, while Eiran held Mira and Lisanna.

They stared with horror after the attack passed at the forest that had disappeared from around them.

Acnologia flew up as he admired his work. "He's admiring his handiwork from above, huh…" Gildarts stated "Which means that was just a 'greeting'. Everyone's still alive, right?! We don't have time to waste being afraid! We're getting the hell off this island now!" As Acnologia roared "He's coming back! Hurry to the ship!"

"Run! We're all going back to Fairy Tail together!" Erza yelled as they started running and the dragon came after them.

Freed and Bickslow ended face to face with Acnologia as he outran them, before pushing them back.

"How terrifying…" Gajeel said

"Freed!" Raine called as Evergreen called "Bickslow!"

"He got ahead of us!" Gray said carrying Juvia

"Why…Why are you doing something like this?!" Wendy yelled at Acnologia "Answer me!"

Laxus pulled Lia away as Acnologia hit where she stood before, even without her sensing he was still affecting her too much.

They kept trying to dodge, to run away but they kept getting hit.

"At this rate…" Lia whispered, before they all stared with shock at Makarov who stood facing the dragon in front of them.

"Run to the ship!" He yelled at them as he grew in size.

"Gramps…" Lia whispered

Makarov grasped Acnologia by the neck stopping him "It's useless!" Gray yelled "There's no way he can fight that thing!" He wasn't fighting to survive, Lia thought

"Master, please stop! If anything happens to you, the guild will…" Erza called

"Run!" Makarov yelled at them again

"If it's resolve, we've got it, too…" Freed yelled back

"Don't you dare underestimate Fairy Tail!" Bickslow yelled back

"We'll just have to go for broke!" Ever said as Elfman agreed

"You plan on even disobeying your master's final orders, you shitty brats?!" Makarov yelled at them

"Did he say final…?" Mira questioned

"He's planning…" Eiran said

"I'm a Dragon Slayer!" Natsu yelled "If anyone's gonna be that thing's opponent, it's gonna be me!"

Laxus walked towards Natsu and started pulling him by the scarf "We're getting out of here, Natsu!" Laxus told him, Natsu was about to complain when he saw the tears Laxus hid.

They all followed as they started running towards the ship, as they cried while some tried to hide their tears, others let it flow.

They didn't see it, but the loud thumb declaring the fall of something big made them know that their master was one the ground.

 **Year x774**

Sophia stared at her 11 years old daughter thoughtfully as they were in the clearing in the forest. While Sophia stood with a hand on her hip, Lia sat cross legged meditating as usual before the start of their training session.

It has been two years since Lia joined Fairy Tail, three since she could use magic and just a few weeks since that incident. Sophia had admitted that since that incident she was even more worried about the young girl and had opted to staying home more.

Lia though was more determined to train and get stronger, though with what happened it was either, get shaken up and run or to fight back and get stronger. Lia followed the advice her mother had told her when she was six and kept going.

"Lia…" Sophia called softly as Lia breathed and opened her eyes, thinking her mother thought this was enough for this morning meditation "I asked you before but I want to know…Why do you want to be a mage? Why do you want to use magic?"

The younger Lia remembered as the accident played again I her head "I don't want anyone to sacrifice themselves for me or to get hurt because of me" She said "I want us to fight beside each other and get through it together." She looked up with fire in her eyes "I want to be strong enough and brave enough to fight with my friends!"

 **Year x784**

"I want to be strong enough and brave enough to fight with my friends!" Lia said as she stopped running

"Oi, Lia!" Laxus called for her but stopped when he saw the determined look

"What's the point if we get through it while we lose gramps?" She questioned "Losing one for the sake of many! No way! That's not how Fairy Tail does things!"

"But master…" Erza said quietly

"He did what any of us would have done" Lia said "And it would be up for the rest to still fight beside him instead of running!"

"Ah" Natsu punched his fist "That's not how Fairy Tail does things!" Natsu ran back followed by Lia

"We are stupid that way" Eiran agreed as he ran after them too as the others followed.

Makarov was ready to accept death, but opened his eyes just as Natsu came running beside him, he dodged Acnologia's tail before jumping at the dragon.

"Give our old man back!" Natsu yelled at him

"Natsu" Makarov called before he was pushed to the side by Acnologia.

Erza, Lia, Laxus and Eiran stood in front of the now normal sized Makarov.

"Eiran, Erza, Lia…You three too" Makarov said

"I was against this, you know." Laxus said as Makarov turned to him "But, do you really think they're the kind of people who can run away and leave an old geezer behind? It's your guild, after all."

"Charge!" Erza called pulling her sword, as they all started attacking.

"All of you! Muster up everything you've got!" Laxus shouted gathering his lightning, Lia beside him was already gathering magic for her heaven's light spell. "Combine it with my lightning, we're gonna give this thing our compliments! Let's show him what Fairy Tail is made of!" They all grinned "Hey, Natsu! Make sure you dodge this!"

"Laxus, now's your chance!" Erza told him

"Raging bolt!" Laxus yelled

"Heavenly wheel blumenblatt" Erza sent her swords.

"Crystal barrage!" Eiran sent his crystal shards at the dragon.

"Super freeze arrow!" Gray sent his attack as Juvia sent her water Nebula, Levy added fire as Lucy summoned Sagittarius and Raine summoned Ullr, Mira used her evil explosion and the thunder tribe sent their attacks as well.

"This is as charged as it can be right now!" Lia said "Magic burst: Heaven's light!" her spell was added into the mix of attacks as it headed for the dragon, with Natsu being saved by Happy.

"This damn monster…it's still smiling even after taking on all our attacks…" Laxus said "It's all up to you guys now! Go, Natsu!"

The dragon slayers flew into the air with their exceed as they added their roars into the attack and the combined attacks managed to push Acnologia back.

"Did we succeed?" Natsu questioned, Lia let her sense on and she checked

"No!" Gildarts told them as Lia confirmed "It isn't using the strength it used when it fought me…it's just playing with you!"

"It's coming!" Lia yelled as he rose from under the ground and they jumped back just in time

"It flew!" Erza said

"Dammit! He's still so energetic!" Elfman said

"That damn monster…" Gajeel said

"We gave it everything we had…" Wendy said

They stared at Acnologia as he started gathering magic.

"It's a breath attack!" Gajeel yelled

"Is it planning on blasting the whole island away?!" Cana questioned

"With that much magic" Lia stopped her sensing when it was getting to much "probably"

"Everyone who can use defensive magic, put everything you've got into it, now!" Erza yelled

"There's not enough time to draw any runes…" Freed said

"There's plenty of defensive magic that doesn't require writing symbols!" Levy added as Freed agreed

"Lia, your defensive enchantments too" Eiran told her as they gathered around, Lia nodded

"Everyone, focus all your magic power on Freed and the others!" Lisanna yelled

"Let's join hands!" Mira said

"We can't let it end here!" Natsu stated as he held Lucy's hand

"Okay! We'll never give up!" Lucy nodded

"Everyone join your power together as one!" Gray yelled "Let's show it the bonds of our guild!"

"Yeah, let's all go home together…" Makarov said as he cried, Lia ended up between Laxus and Eiran, while Raine was between Freed and Evergreen.

"To Fairy Tail!" They shouted focusing their magic, just as Acnologia let out his attack.

On that day, December 16, year 784, Tenroujima was eradicated, all the people on it lost, and Acnologia disappeared again.


	24. Seven years!

**AN: An extra long chapter to start the after time skip :D Enjoy! ^_^**

It was year x791

Seven years passed since the day that Tenroujima was destroyed, several search parties were sent but no trace was found of the island or any of those that were on it.

Seven years changed lots of things one was the drop of Fairy Tail from the number one guild to the weakest in Fiore, with their strongest members gone, Fairy Tail reached this state, indebted, with almost no work, only a handful of members, and a small tavern to call a guild hall.

"Has Romeo not come home yet?!" Macao demanded, slamming his jug on the table "Damn that Al and Bisca! They probably ditched Romeo and Sol, and went off to party in town!"

"Pipe down…You're not a kid anymore, so take it easy, Macao." Wakaba told him

This led to the two of them arguing as Macao insisted on being called master while Wakaba stated he never seen such an undignified master.

Max sighed watching the exchange as he took in the state the guild was in, just as to the side Laki was picking on Droy for his weight and Bijiter performed his new dance.

"Hey, Droy, have you been putting more pressure on the earth recently?" Laki asked him

"You trying to tell me I've gotten fat, you bastard?!" Droy shouted at her

"Don't take it out on Laki. Man, you have no self-awareness…" Jet replied "Look at Reedus, how slim he got!"

"I've been working out every day!" Droy argued "Can't you tell just by looking at these muscles?!"

"Even Kinana has settled down well. You, on the other hand…" Jet replied

"Shut up! I'm increasing my magic power with food!" Droy shouted as Laki tried to stop them

"Geez, what would Levy say if she could see you now?" Jet remarked

"Levy's not coming back!" Droy shouted before he realized what he said, the mood in the guild dropped in an instant.

"Hey now…" added a new voice as five guys entered the guild hall "It's only noon and the lot of you look as gloomy as always. That's why I hate puny guilds like yours."

"You don't have any ambition!" added another

"Teebo, I thought I told you not to come here anymore!" Macao told them

"Hey, hey…Is it really okay for you to be talking to me like that?" Teebo said "After all, We're the guild that represents Magnolia, Twilight Ogre." Just as the guild members gathered behind their master "There may have been a time when you were the strongest in Fiore, but your era has come to an end. Compared to this beat-up old tavern and the mage guild of the new age, Twilight Ogre. It's obvious which one would be more beneficial to the advancement of Magnolia, right?"

"Acting all might just cause they have a bigger guild…" Max said

"Yeah! We have spirit!" Warren yelled

"You can't survive off of spirit alone…" Teebo told them "Let's face it the only way you're even making money is off of that song bird of yours and that doesn't even qualify as mage work"

"Don't even dare-" Max started but was stopped by Macao

"What did you come here for, Teebo?" Macao asked him

"This month's pay" Teebo replied

"You didn't pay again, Macao?!" Wakaba asked him

"I thought I told you to call me master!" Macao argued instead of answering

"You're late on your debt payments." One of Teebo's comrades said. They were a month behind on their debt and they barely making it, and the lack of requests didn't help.

"We haven't gotten any work this month!" Macao told him "We'll pay you next month, so just please wait!"

"Come on now, when you were on the verge of collapse, who was it that came to the rescue of this rundown tavern? We were the ones who stepped in and loaned you money, remember?!" another of Teebo's comrades said

"If we knew you were gonna charge such a ridiculous amount of interest, we wouldn't have gone to you…" Jet stated as Laki agreed

"Did you say something, you bastard?!" one of Teebo's comrades demanded as Macao stopped Jet.

"Wait until next month… We'll pay up" Macao told Teebo, who smirked in return and with no warning kicked Macao, sending him crashing back into a table.

As the other's turned angrily and stepped forward ready to fight, Macao stopped them.

"Don't touch them!" Macao yelled as Kinana checked on him.

Teebo and his friends went on a rampage as they destroyed furniture, drank the alcohol and hit on Laki.

"Stop it this instant, Teebo!" Shouted an angry female voice from the door way

"Venus…" Max said seeing her.

Venus had grown in the seven years, now nineteen and not a kid anymore, her blonde curly hair was gathered in a ponytail that ended at her shoulders with her bangs swept to the right and reaching her shin with a few short loose strands on the left, she was taller now, probably would have been as tall as Mira now.

She was wearing a short violet skirt stopping a little above the knee, an off the shoulder long sleeved black top with a violet small scarf tied around her neck, along with open toed black heels.

She was wearing a black messenger bag, which she looked into, before pulling a brown pouch.

"You're here for money, right?" She asked as she walked to Teebo "take this and leave, we'll pay the rest next month!"

"Venus!" Macao called in protest but she shook her head before staring defiantly at Teebo who kept smirking after taking the pouch.

"How about a date hot stuff and I will tell master that the month's pay was paid in full?" Teebo told her as she cringed.

"I'll pass" She told him "Now leave!"

"You'll come through, when this guild shut down and you have nowhere to turn to" He told her before turning to Macao "Don't forget, now…it's next month." before he and his comrades left, once out of sight Venus turned to look at the damage done to the guild.

Everyone sat on the ground depressed, while Kinana went back to cleaning the dishes, Venus had brought a broom from the back and was working on sweeping some of the wood pieces to the side.

"Venus, you didn't have to pay them…" Macao told her "How are you gonna live if you keep spending your money on the guild?"

Everyone gave in their share to keep the guild open, but Venus paid all of her rewards most of the time.

"Don't worry about it" She told him "The guild comes first after all" They all turned though when Reedus's sketch book fell and they all stopped to stare at the sketches.

There was one of Makarov smiling and one of Natsu grinning, another of team Natsu with Juvia watching them in the back, one of Gajeel and Wendy along with Lily and Carla, another of team shadow gear, and one of Lia, Venus and Eiran and another of Raine and Sol, there was one of Mira, Lisanna, Elfman and Cana, one of the thunder tribe, and one of the guild hall…everyone smiling and having fun in the chaos, the final two were one of Laxus and the other of Gildarts.

Venus set the broom on the wall before she started gathering the sketches back into the book.

"It's been 7 years since then." Wakaba said, as many of them were reduced to tears, even Venus who wiped hers as she gave her back to the rest

"Has it really been that long?" Macao wondered

"That really takes me back…" Max said

"Everything has changed since that time…" Warren added

"when we heard that Tenroujima was destroyed, everyone searched with everything that they had." Jet said

"But not a single one of them was found…" Bijiter said

"If the council's story is true, then Acnologia was what eradicated the island." Added Nab

"In reality, all different kinds of organizations worked together in the search…" Reedus said "But none of their efforts resulted in anything."

"On that day, the ethernano readings around Tenrou Island were off the charts." Jet said "Because it was a level that no living being could even endure…"

"That was the force of Acnologia's roar!" Nab cried

"Here" Venus said handing the sketch book to Reedus, she was too sad to comment or say anything holding back her tears were hard enough.

"Ever since the moment they disappeared, we've turned into this weak, pathetic guild." Max said "Magnolia has built a new guild."

"Our time to close may be coming…" Wakaba said as Venus froze

"I don't wanna hear it!" Laki shouted

"We can't give up!" Venus added "We have to keep…trying for them" she bit her lip.

"What's wrong, Macao?" Wakaba asked him

"My…My heart feels like it's gonna break…" Macao said

"You've done well, Master." Wakaba told him

"Ever since that happened…Romeo hasn't ever smiled, even once" Macao said in tears.

"Neither have Sol" Max muttered

Venus got up and was about to start sweeping the broken pieces again when a loud noise filled the building.

"What's that sound…?" Droy asked

"Are those Ogres back for more trouble?" Jet asked

"No, I think I recognize this…" Venus said setting the broom aside as they all went outside to check.

They looked up as they saw the Blue Pegasus's battle ship, Christina, hovering over them. Ichiya stood at the helm on the figure head, and he suddenly jumped and came plummeting down to the ground…where he crashed.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Ichiya said "I'm Ichiya, just for you"

"Most people wouldn't survive a fall like this" Venus said sweat dropping

And like always he was followed by the trimen, Hibiki, Ren and Eve who landed safely using Ren's wind magic.

"You're as beautiful as ever, Laki" Hibiki said as the three of them surrounded Laki

"T-Those glasses really suit you." Ren told her

"Do you mind if I call you, big sis?" Eve asked her

"If you're only here to hit on girls, take it somewhere else!" Max yelled at them

They instead started surrounding Venus.

"Venus, I really missed you" Hibiki told her

"Your scarf really suits you" Ren said

"I've decide to be your younger brother" Eve said

"I was just with you guys a few days ago Hibiki" Venus said, since she was used to their antics by now "Thank you, Ren. And Eve you're older than me"

"Hey, you guys." Ichiya called them "We're not here to fool around."

"Please excuse us!" The three said stepping back and bowing

They all turned to Ichiya though, since they were curious why they were here, and if they had used Christina to get here it must be urgent.

"I don't forget the parfum of Camaraderie of those I've fought and struggle alongside with." Ichiya told them as they drew blank faces

"I got nothing" Venus stated before turning to look at Hibiki for explanation

"By analyzing the information provided by 'Archive', coupled with the mobility Christina brought us, our investigative efforts into the ethernano readings of Fiore have paid off" Hibiki told them as Venus eye's widened along with Macao and Wakaba's

"In other words, Tenroujima still exists" Ichiya told them

* * *

After they heard those words, they got ready to head out, and as soon as Bisca and Alzack came back with Sol and Romeo, a team consisting of Max, Jet, Droy, Venus, Warren, Bisca, Alzack and Sol set out, to the coordinates given to them by Hibiki.

Aboard the ship, Bisca sighed as she stopped looking through the binoculars.

"Is it really around here?" She asked

"There's nothing to see…" Alzack said

"According to those Pegasus guys, there was something about the 'ethernano' in this part of the ocean…" Warren said

"What's 'ethernano' in the first place, anyway?" Max asked

Venus turned to them not seeing anything "It's the magic particles in the air, and according to Hibiki the ethernano in this area matches the one from that day" She told them "Did your magic find anything, Warren?"

"No response there." Warren replied sighing

"Was it really okay not to bring Romeo along?" Bisca asked

"We should've brought him along, by force if necessary." Alzack added

"It's not a certainty that everyone's still alive" Max said

"That's true, we can't afford to let him get his hopes up" Warren said before they stared at the too hopeful and already celebrating Jet and Droy.

"Shut up!" Warren yelled at them "There's been no word in over 7 years! Think about the worst case scenario as well!"

"Warren" Venus hissed as she pointed at Sol who was standing quietly at the helm staring ahead

"Sorry…" Warren said scratching his head

Sol at the helm was hearing them from the start but chose to ignore it, if he found them alive it would be great and if they weren't it was still okay, at least better than not knowing…he lost his older sister that day, but he didn't know if he could really believe she was dead, after all there was nothing to prove it, so despite all common sense and unlike his best friend, Romeo, he still held hope that they were alive.

He had turned fourteen just a month ago, he was even slightly taller than Romeo. His black hair was spiked up, and he wore short sleeved green top with a gray long sleeved hoodie, and a beige cargo pants and gray sneakers.

"The wind stopped" Bisca noted

"You're right, it's suddenly gotten really quiet." Alzack said

"There aren't any birds either." Jet said looking at the sky

"What's going on?" Droy questioned

"Everyone!" Sol called from the helm "There's someone there!"

They all headed to the helm as they stared at the person and was shocked to see they were standing on water.

"Who is it…?" Warren wondered

The waves started to rise as lights rose from the ocean, they all held tight to the sides as the ship started rocketing, but stared with shock as something rose from under water, and when all the water fell down they gaped as they stared at Tenroujima.

"Is that really…?" Venus muttered

Just as the island settled down, the ocean calmed down again, and the woman who was standing on top of the ocean started to head into the island.

They immediately went after her after docking the ship, they ran through the island following her. She led them through the forest and when they almost lost sight of her, Jet went ahead using his magic but stopped suddenly as he stared at something.

They stopped beside him as they stared as well, half buried into the ground was Natsu. They headed down and started shaking the pinkette, Sol stood behind them before he ran off.

"Wait Sol!" Venus called as she noted him running

"Don't head on your own!" Bisca yelled as well

"We have to find the others" He yelled back running ahead, He didn't know where he was going but he had to find her.

"This way" The woman from before said as she appeared to his left, on a closer look she looked like a child, despite that he went the way she told him and ran for a little while before finding her.

"Raine!" He called as he jumped beside her she was covered in dirt and was bandaged, but she was breathing "Raine! Raine!" He kept shaking her

She eventually opened her eyes and blinked as she looked at him, his eyes though filled with tears as he grinned and hug her.

"Sol?!" Raine was shocked "What are you doing here?! And why do you look older?!"

"You're okay! You're Alive!" Sol cried into her shoulder hugging her tighter

"Sol!" Venus called as she followed him before he saw him hugging Raine.

Back at where they found Natsu, who was awake now and didn't seem to have changed at all, not personality wise or age wise, they had even found Happy there.

"What about everyone else?!" Asked Natsu

"Right here." Called them from over a cliff was the woman that led them here.

"Who…?" asked Happy and Natsu

"My name is Mavis. Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion." She told them

* * *

Her head hurt, Lia groaned as she got up, but she was glad as the headache started to go away almost instantly.

"What happened?" She muttered, before it came back to her…Acnologia, she didn't get time to think when she was hugged by a crying Bisca and Venus.

"Lia!" They called "You're alive!"

"Oi! Let go!" Shouted Eiran from the side as he was swarmed by the rest of them "Why are you getting so emotional ?!"

As Bisca and Venus let go of Lia she stared at them "Why do you guys look older? Venus you're supposed to be twelve!"

"It's been seven years!" Venus told her "I can't believe you still look the same!"

The explanation came to them from the woman who called herself Mavis, after everyone was found they gathered to listen to her.

"Back then, I took the strength of everyone's bonds and faith…and converted all of it into magic power. All of your thoughts allowed one of the three great fairy magic, 'Fairy Sphere', to be activated. It's a magic that'll protect the guild from any evil, an absolute defensive magic." She explained "However, everyone was sealed in a frozen state…And though it's been released, a span of 7 years has passed."

"What now…So the first protected us, huh…" Makarov said happily, Lia who looked up to the first, was using all herself control to stop herself from squealing.

"No, I'm just an ethereal body." Mavis said shaking her head "Since I converted everyone's strength into magic, I had to give it my all" She started glowing as she flew "Unwavering faith and resilient bonds will bring even miracles to you side. It's become a wonderful guild, Third." As she disappeared into thin air.

After they gathered their stuff from all over the island, they made their way aboard the ship and were currently heading back to the guild.

"Help me!" Natsu groaned leaning against the ship side, his motion sickness had not changed at all.

"Natsu, here you go!" Wendy said as she cast Troia on him and he was better immediately. On the other side was a silent lightning dragon slayer, who was envying the now running Natsu.

"Here" Lia placed a hand on his cheek "Body enchant: Balance!" As she cast the spell he was immediately feeling better "Better?"

"Ah" He replied

"Kinda of weird that you and Natsu are the only dragon slayers with motion sickness. You two have something in common!" Lia told him chuckling, as glared at her.

"Laxus, right?" Venus wondered as she approached them "My name's Venus, nice to meet you! The guild started to look for you after the accident, but we couldn't find you at all, we never thought we would find you on Tenrou"

"They looked for me?" Laxus was surprised, given everything he did.

"They moved on from the entire take over the guild plan years ago" Venus shrugged as Lia sweat dropped, apparently Venus didn't know how to avoid rubbing salt into the wound. Someone called for Venus and she excused herself.

"Charming" Laxus said as Lia laughed

"She is…Like a female version of Natsu…minus the destruction…I think" Lia said she hopped Venus growing up didn't mean she started love destroying things. Laxus chuckled, Natsu did have the tendency to say whatever was on his mind. "So, what's your plan when we go back?"

"Get back on the road" He told her as she glared at him when he saw her glare, he rolled his eyes "You know the old man won't let me back into the guild"

"Don't underestimate me Laxus" She told him "Besides, you think that anti motion sickness spell was for free?"

"Wait what?" He looked at her before frowning at the look in her eyes. "What are you planning?"

Eiran was thinking intently to the side, they survived this one but they almost didn't, and facing that…maybe it's about time he did it.

He stood up but then stopped…maybe when we head back home. "Eiran…" Mira called him as he froze.

They eventually made it back Magnolia, but when they were led to the outskirts of town instead of the usual guild hall they were confused.

"Well…" Max muttered as he exchanged looks with the others, they didn't know how they were going to tell them how the guild is.

"We kinda of relocated" Venus said before sighing, they were walking towards the new guild hall "Truth be told things haven't been that good for the guild"

"For one we're no longer the number on guild" Bisca said

"We only get a few jobs" Warren added

"And there's only a small handful of members left" Jet stated

"And we're indebted to the new guild in town" Droy finished

By then they had reached the road leading into the new guild hall, which shocked everyone who were on Tenroujima but they then noticed the guys standing at the Guild Hall's doors.

"Teebo!" Venus said gritting her teeth "We just paid him! He's not supposed to come back for another month!"

"Are they here to cause trouble again?!" Max clenched his fists.

Seeing the angry looks on their friends, the Tenroujima group led the way and just as they saw one of the five guys about to hit Romeo with a club, Natsu kicked the guy sending him flying forward.

As the other's turned to see who was there, Gray, Gajeel, Erza and Makarov finished the rest of them.

Natsu grinned. "We're home!"

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting!" Happy said

As the ones in the guild stared back at them with shock before breaking into tears. Everyone was immediately engulfed in hugs, before Makarov explained what happened and what Mavis had told them.

As everyone was gathered around Makarov as they listened to his explanation, to the side was a shocked Romeo who kept staring at Natsu.

"You're all grown up, Romeo." Natsu told him as Sol who stood beside Romeo grinning nudged him.

"Welcome back, Natsu, everyone…" Romeo said smiling as tears fell just like everyone else.

That day they celebrated till morning, they drank, sang and danced as if to forget the seven-year gap.

"You can use Fire Magic too, Romeo?!" Natsu was amazed as he talked with Romeo

"The temperature in the guild is gonna rise up again!" Happy said as Romeo showed him that he could make cold flames and all different kinds, and he apparently have been taken lessons from Totomaru as Gajeel who was sitting with them was impressed.

At the bar Makarov talked with Macao and Wakaba, with him telling Macao to keep on being the master for now.

"I've got this indescribable feeling of disappointment…" Wakaba said

"Right?" Makarov agreed

"What?!" Erza was shocked as she talked to Bisca and Alzack "Y-Y-You guys got married?!"

"Six years ago." Alzack told her

"Listen to this, Erza! I'm the one who proposed!" Bisca told her

Erza ended up holding Max by the neck as she kept shaking him while blushing "Congratulations! Incompetent as I am, I hope you'll think well of me!"

"What's Erza talking about?" Elfman wondered

"She's mixing up their lived with hers." Mira said before turning to the blushing Eiran beside her "Are you okay?"

"Ah" He said nodding almost robotically.

"That's wonderful! Do you have any children?" Lisanna asked Bisca and Alzack

"One daughter." Bisca told her

"Her name is Asuka." Alzack said

Sitting at one of the tables were Lia, along with the thunder tribe and Laxus.

"Musician?!" Ever wondered as Venus nodded "I know it's your magic but…"

"Producing it with magic is different, so I get good requests, mostly from blue Pegasus to help with their hosting activities and I was even asked to play at a ball next Saturday" Venus told them "Doesn't mean my magic is weak though, I have been training."

"It's great though, your talent getting recognized like that" Lia told her "And your all grown up now too"

"Your talent was evident seven year ago" Freed said nodding

"And with my magic I can even play a few instruments together" Venus stated proudly

"Nice" Bickslow said as his doll repeated it.

Laxus was sitting them quietly he had met her on the ship for the first time, so he didn't have anything to add to the conversation.

"By the way Lia, I Kinda of went through some of stuff in the library at your house" Venus told her "Sorry"

"You're still living there? Well I don't mind" Lia said shrugging, she didn't think going through the book would hurt anyone.

"Well I kinda of went through the albums" This caused both Lia and Laxus to freeze as Venus smirked she had expected this reaction; the thunder tribe were confused though.

"Albums?" Ever questioned

"Aha" Venus said "Lots of the photos, and some are pretty old, like twenty-eight years old"

Lia who was sitting beside Laxus as both sweat nervously.

"I thought you hid them" Laxus whispered

"I did" Lia replied "But she had seven years to find them…"

They were photos taken by her mother, Sophia, mostly what they thought of as embarrassing photos of Laxus, Eiran and Lia, they hadn't found the heart to destroy them but they didn't want them seen so Lia hid them, but she hadn't done a good job at that apparently.

"You three were so cute" Venus squealed and Ever, Freed and Bickslow both got closer to her, as they watched the couple of photos in her hand, which she had pulled from her bag.

"Cute" Ever stated

"Is that Laxus?!" Bickslow laughed

Lia and Laxus were both white as a sheet.

They weren't the only one feeling embarrassed, behind them was an embarrassed Wendy who was looking at Reedus's drawing of how he thought she would look when she got older, she was sad as she noticed he drew her chest as it is.

"Wait, Gun magic?!" Raine asked Sol as he requiped two pistols, although the requip took some time to succeed.

"My aiming is better than my Requip" Sol said laughing nervously "But Alzack have been teaching me"

"That's great!" She told him. "Maybe we can go on a job sometime"

All conversations came to a halt as the guild hall door opened and six people walked in.

"Well, it looks like the gang's all here." Jura said

"Let me congratulate you with love on your homecoming, everyone!" Sherry added

"Are you all safe and sound?" Jura asked

"They may not have aged in seven years, but still…" Yuka said

"I am still surprised about the fact that you haven't aged!" said Anise, which caused both Eiran and Lia to stare with shock

"Are you gonna go back to being a boisterous guild?" Lion wondered

"Lamia Scale!" Lucy said

"Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale were both a big help in the search for Tenroujima." Max told them

"The two of them were the only ones that kept helping us look even after everyone else gave up" Venus informed them

"I guess we're in their debt now…" Gray said

"Don't worry about it" Lion told him "Pegasus has overtaken us, but we've got more powerful members."

"That's what you mean?!" Gray questioned

"I didn't know you joined Lamia" Lia told Anise "So that was the guild in your hometown, huh?"

"Yeah been a member for seven years now" Anise told her

Anise who was now twenty-five years old looked more mature, her light green hair tied loosely and her bangs now settled down covering her left eye. she was wearing a dark blue short strapless dress with a beige long sleeved knee length coat with black leggings with ankle length black boots.

"After all, in these seven years, Lamia scale has become the number two guild in Fiore" Sherry told them

"Then Pegasus is number one?" Lucy asked

"you really think that's possible?!" Toby shouted

"Cool it." Yuka told Toby "No. It's not Pegasus"

"Come, let's change the subject." Jura said "What's important is that everyone is safe."

"Married?!" Lia questioned as Anise nodded, Anise, Lia, Eiran and Venus has started talking to the side as they ignored the conversation about ranks.

Anise was blushing slightly "It happened about five years ago" She told them

Eiran sweat dropped, he kept hearing about people getting married, today of all days when he was trying to gather the nerve.

"It's was a beautiful wedding" Venus added "And I still stand by the fact you and Lion look good together."

"Did you just say Lion?!" Gray who had heard them turned to Lion who smirked "You got married?!"

"Congratulations! Although I am late!" Lia told her "So do you have any kids?"

"Not yet" Anise replied

Another surprise was the one Gildarts kept proudly announcing about him being Cana's father as he kept being clingy and she kept pushing him.

"Ta-daaa! This is Asuka!" Alzack said proudly as he held a sketch of the little girl

"She looks exactly like you two." Wendy said

"She's adorable too!" Venus told them having babysat the girl a few times before "And as talented as her parents"

"I see. She reminds me of Wendy. She's very cute." Lily said, Gajeel tried to warn him but it was too late as Wendy ran off crying.

"Huh? What did I say?!" Lily asked as Gajeel face palmed

"You hurt her woman's pride" Venus told the exceed

The party kept going, as everyone talked and drank, they were having fun, but reality didn't wait as it came crashing hard.

The seven years forced a new reality on them they had accept, with all its worth of trouble.

Almost everyone's saving was gone, especially those that kept it at the guild or didn't protect it well like Natsu, only the members that had kept it at a bank were spared.

There was also the problem with the housing, all the girls who were staying at Fairy hill didn't have anywhere to go, or in case of Lucy who couldn't pay her apartment seven years' worth of rent.

Raine was lucky, Sol now a wizard himself was already living in a small rented apartment, so she could stay with him and in case of Lia she owned her house, which was tended to by Venus.

Which after Lia and Venus agreed they ended up offering the girls to stay with them till they managed to find a place, Lisanna and Mira had already agreed to stay in a spare room in the guild, that left the rest of the girl's from Tenroujima including Lucy who couldn't get into her apartment with no money.

Housing though was the least of their problems, everything has changed, the people, the guild and they had enemies to worry about.

Anise had taken Lia and Eiran behind the guild to talk away from curious ears. "I am sure you've heard of Eptá Amartíes" As they both nodded "Well because of my past, I can somewhat get information and I was surprised and confused when I heard what they were doing…" She informed them what she knew which shocked the two of them.

* * *

That night, nine girls and one exceed gathered in the living room of Lia's house, Lia, Venus, Wendy, Carla, Cana, Ever, Juvia, Erza, Levy, Lucy.

"Alright, now that we're divided, this will be solved like most arguments are" Lia stated as she faced Ever while Erza faced Lucy "Rock paper scissors"

With only two bedrooms, each with a queen-sized bed, it meant some would have to sleep on the two couches in the living and some would settle with sleeping bags on the ground.

So, they divided, Lia and Venus, Cana and Ever, Juvia and Erza, Levy, Lucy and Wendy, with Lucy's team being the only one of three since they though Levy and Wendy could fit better, although none of them dared say it aloud.

"Go Lia!" Venus cheered

"Don't you dare lose" Cana told Ever

"Like I would" Ever replied smirking

"Good luck" Juvia told Erza who nodded

"You can do it Lu" Levy said

"Do your best, Lucy" Wendy cheered

"Don't worry, I trust my luck on this one" Lucy said

The four girls were facing as they readied their hands "Rock Paper" They said before stopping their hands "Scissors"

Lia smirked as she played her scissors while Ever had chosen paper, and team Lucy cheered at her pick of rock which won against Erza's scissors, Erza was staring at her hand in shock.

"That settles the bedrooms" Lia said as she and Lucy high fived "Now let's see who gets the couch"

Ever and Erza faced, lightning can almost be seen between them and Lia was sure she would lose her house if this turned to a real fight, "Rock Paper" They stopped their hands "Scissors!"

Ever smirked as she had won against Erza's rock using paper "Now that's how a fairy wins!"

Erza was depressed in the corner as she contemplated her loss.

They spent some time though chatting and to Lia and Venus it turned to an almost fight, when the latter had tried to bring the albums while Lia kept fighting to stop her.

"Oh no you don't!" Lia stood at the door leading to the library in the basement "You're not getting the while I am alive!"

"Come on you look cute!" Venus argued as she tried to push against Lia "A little help girls!" The others were watching from behind.

Lia paled when Evergreen joined Venus, and both girl started pulling her. "Traitor!" Lia screamed

Evergreen smirked. "We only saw a couple earlier; I want to see the rest"

"Are those photos really important?" Erza asked

"They can't be that embarrassing, can they?" Lucy wondered

"Let's say, Lia, Laxus and Eiran are a lot different from when they were kids" Cana told them since she had known the three the longest.

"Wait what?!" Lia was shocked when Erza joined the fray easily holding the girl while Venus went downstairs "Let me go Erza!" Lia was flailing as she tried to escape but to no avail.

She resigned herself as they sat in the living room going through the photo, as she sat depressed to the side.

"Cute!" Lucy said as she looked at one photo, which showed a five-year-old Lia trying to stop pulling a seven-year-old Laxus and a scowling six-year-old Eiran to take the photo. "When was it taken?"

"It was taken a few weeks after Eiran came to Fairy Tail. I was five at the time" Lia answered finally resigning herself to the situation.

"You guys look so different!" Levy commented "It's hard to believe it's the same people"

"Guys check this one!" Evergreen called as she showed them one that made Lia groan while the others laugh. The photo showed an unimpressed Lia with whipped cream covering her face, and what looked like the remains of a cake in front of her, while Eiran and Laxus were laughing at her.

"It was my sixth birthday and much to my luck a Fairy Tail fight broke out, and since those two had just started learning to control their magic, the cake got hit and I ended up with it on my face" Lia told them as they laughed harder.

"These were taken by Sophia?" Erza inquired as Lia nodded "I remember seeing her requiping her camera to take photos"

"You should find ones of yourselves in some" Lia told her as she went through the albums before holding one, that was filled with photos of everyone as kids. "Mom always liked to take photos"

"She had a good eye too" Juvia commented as Lia smiled

"What is this?" Wendy giggled as she stared at one with Carla

"What the hell?!" Cana broke into a fit of laughter as Lia turned three shades redder, as the others joined the laugh as they stared at the photo.

The photo was of a nine-year-old Lia, a ten-year-old Eiran and an eleven-year-old Laxus, with the three of them wearing cat ears, the boys looked embarrassed while Lia was smiling as she liked it.

"What's the story behind this one?!" Carla asked

"I always wanted to know" Venus asked as Lia groaned

"One of the very first jobs we took after I joined the guild" Lia told them "We had to catch a damn cat that actually used magic, which meant we had to trick it, those ears were enchanted so the cat would see us as cats!"

"Cute!" Ever commented as Lia buried her face into her hands

"So the three of you were a team?" Juvia asked

"They were" Cana answered instead of the still embarrassed Lia "No idea why they broke up though"

"It was sudden when it happened" Levy commented

"A couple of weeks after the thunder tripe was formed so not a complete loss" Evergreen added

"Why did you break up?" Lucy asked Lia who sighed

"Because…it was for the best…I think" Lia answered sounding hesitant "I was the one that broke it, so I don't even have right to complain" She got up "I am going to bed, good night!"

"Was I not supposed to ask?" Lucy wondered after Lia had gone upstairs

"It happened a few months after Lia's mother Sophia died" Erza answered the girl "Her passing was difficult to a lot of the people in the guild"

"Lia started to distance herself a lot back then" Cana said "Eiran barely talked to others for weeks and Laxus was even moodier than usual"

All the girls looked away thoughtful before they gathered the photo and went to bed themselves.


	25. Rubyreach

The next day, Makarov went with his three S rank wizards, to handle Fairy Tail's biggest problem right now. He was meeting with Twilight Ogre's master, Banaboster.

"I'm telling you, old man, there's nothing to discuss. Pay us back the money we lent you and the slate will be wiped clean." Banaboster told Makarov

"Easy for you to say, but as you know, we have surprising lack of money" Makarov replied, he sat across from Banaboster with a coffee table between them.

Behind him was Erza to the left, Eiran in the middle and Mira to the right.

"Besides, one look at the account book shows that there's obviously something odd about income and expenditures." Mira said

"Are you accusin' me of something?!" Banaboster yelled at them

"Not at all! We'll pay back the money we borrowed along with legitimate interest…eventually" Makarov told him

"And I'm tellin' you to pay it back right now, you old fart!" Banaboster yelled as he stood up

"Look…Let's start by recalculating the interest." Makarov told him

"You beat up five of my guys! First, our debtors open up a can of whoop-ass on us and then they don't pay what the owe, you're makin' our guild lose face here!" Banaboster roared

"Huh? I came here today to talk about money, but you want to bring honor into it, too?" Makarov asked

"We don't have money or honor, thanks to you!" Banaboster yelled as he kicked the table aside

"Pay back what you owe." Makarov said "That's your guild's creed." Before he glared at him "that's how you want to play it, yes?"

"Seven years…of property damage to our guild" Erza said

"Seven years…of injuring and insulting our members and current master" Eiran added

"We're obliged to pay you back for all of that." Mira said

"For seven years…You've made my brats suffer…" Makarov said as he grew in size "It makes me cry just to think about it…" Makarov now overshadowed Banaboster "Hey, boy. It's a war you want?"

Erza into one of her armors, Eiran was now covered in his crystal armor as well as Mira transformed into her Satan form, before hell broke loose on Twilight Ogre.

* * *

"Wow!" Raine noted as she stood with Sol behind the guild hall as he showed her his magic skills.

Sol stopped beside her as he stopped his skate board, apparently when the kid told her he was still practicing he didn't mean he was practicing shooting stationary, and that his requip wasn't just for his weapons.

Although even while shooting while on his skateboard and moving around he had hit three of five of his targets in the center.

He grinned at his sister, "You think I can compete with Ullr's aim?" She smiled at him "Want to try it?" She asked him pulling the said orb.

She was proud of the progress her brother has made but it made her sad she hadn't been here for him, especially after promising she would take care of him always.

* * *

Lia was heading back home, while dressed all in black, she was planning on heading for the guild after her visit, but now she just wanted some time alone, which reminded her that her house where no longer empty, which led to her standing on the bridge over the cannel as she kept staring at the water lost in thought.

Last night had made her think about lots of things, how everything changed at one point, and how she was mostly to blame.

Also, how everyone had lost seven years, but for her she was now missing eleven years, with those four years' memories not seeming to be coming back any time soon.

That and today's visit made her realized how despite being twenty-one she hasn't done much, if anything at all.

Standing in front of her mother's grave this morning made her realize…how would her mother feel of the seemingly empty years that Lia was losing? Tenroujima made her realize, she had ways to go as a wizard, it made her realize, that even though she didn't want it, she could die any moment with nothing to show for the years she lived…nothing to tell her mother if they met in the afterlife.

She had thought after what happened years back, she had realized the risks, but she apparently had forgotten.

And not just that…She didn't want others to keep protecting her…she didn't want to watch a friend…or a family die because of her weakness.

She was frustrated with herself and she wanted to change it…somehow, which kept making her hand touch her back where she knew the seal where, that was one thing that she knew was holding her back…but she was afraid of completely releasing it…doing it in battle when she had no other way was one thing…but to completely remove it…she was scared.

"Boo" Someone said from behind Lia, but she was too lost to hear it "Earthland to Lia!" Lia snapped out of it as she turned to Venus with Erza beside her, both carrying some bags with groceries.

"Are you okay?" Erza asked her

"Yeah, was just lost in thought!" Lia told her shaking her head "What are all those for?!"

"I thought, since we'll be having guests for a while it was time to stock up on supplies!" Venus grinned "Erza volunteered to help me"

"It's what we should do since we're intruding on you" Erza replied

"it's okay Erza, you guys would have done the same, we're family after all!" Lia told her causing Erza to smile while Venus grinned

"You're right!" Erza agreed

Lia took some bags from Venus to help her. As They started walking back to their house "So, why the black?" Venus asked gesturing to her clothes

"I was visiting mom" Lia replied before she used her magic to change it "It's just, been so long"

"You didn't get to visit before Tenrou?" Erza wondered as Lia nodded with a sad smile

"Why don't you tell me about her, how was she when she was alive?" Venus asked her as Lia smiled

"She was great, a little childish, friendly, overprotective over everyone in the guild" Lia said as she remembered "You know those albums, she took every photo in it…she knew Requip magic but the only thing I ever saw her requip was her camera."

"Well she did a great work with those photos!" Venus said laughing as Lia rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.

"She was a force to be reckoned with, and kept the guild in line" Erza added

"She wasn't as strict as you Erza, the guild was more afraid from your wraith" Lia added shaking her head "Which was funny surprising considering you were supposed to be the kid!"

That day, Lucy had gotten her house back but she did receive the news of her Father's death. A few days passed as everyone settled back and started going on jobs again…almost everyone, Lia hasn't gone on any job since they came back and she would come to the guild in the morning before she disappeared for the rest of the day, she had been pushing some training on her own at that time.

But that wasn't the main reason she opted out of taking jobs, the guild only had a handful of requests and as far as money was concerned her friends needed them more than her.

"Good Morning, Mira" Lia greeted the white head as she sat at the bar, who greeted her back, before serving Lia with a morning coffee, which Lia drank as she wrote down in a small note book

Lia had been opting to keeping her hair in a ponytail with her bangs as they are, she was wearing a beige colored sleeveless sweetheart neck top, with a long sleeved brown jacket, and dark blue skinny jeans tucked into brown mid-calf boots. She had her messenger bag with her, which was on the ground now.

"I thought you would have disappeared by now" Eiran said as he sat beside her grinning as Lia rolled her eyes

"You know 'good morning' would do" She told him

Eiran had changed his usual 'work' clothes, he was wearing a black long sleeved hoodie with white trims with a long sleeved black button up shirt with the neck unbuttoned under it and white long pants and black sneakers.

Near the request board was an overly excited Natsu and Happy, before they were joined by Lucy as they checked the request for catching the fugitive, Velveno.

"Who's the client?" Lucy asked as they read the request

"Um…It says count Balsamico" Natsu told her "That's a sour name!"

"Like balsamic vinegar!" Happy noted

"Balsamico?" Macao wondered "Hey, I heard that Velveno guy is gonna show up at the Balsamico family's magical ball."

"Magical ball?" Natsu asked

"It's a ball that's held once every seven years and only wizards can attend." Wakaba told them

"Isn't that the one Venus is playing at next Saturday?" Lia wondered as she walked up to them, she was about to head out to start today's training

"Yeah, that's the one!" Wakaba told her

"Then let's go to the ball and capture Velveno!" Happy said as Natsu cheered and they both ran off before they were stopped by Lucy.

"Wait a sec! If you're gonna participate in a ball, you'll have to practice dancing!" Lucy told them

"Dance?!" Natsu asked with shock

They ended up sitting outside and Venus who arrived minutes later, agreed to play what she planned for the ball to help them practice, Lia thinking it would be fun to watch opted to stay and head out a bit late today.

Venus stood to the side, Natsu stood in the middle facing Lucy with Macao and Wakaba watching from one side while Lia, Romeo and Happy sat on some seat to the side.

"Role of the composer!" Venus casted the spell as green stick formed in her hand "Whenever you're ready"

"Alright, We'll start with the basic steps." Lucy told Natsu "Okay, hold my hands."

"Jeez, this is a pain in the ass…" Natsu said before he took Lucy's hands

Venus started moving her hands and music started to play, even though there were no instruments but the music notes were formed in the air and flew around them.

Lucy and Natsu started dancing as well to the music.

"What are Natsu and Lucy trying to do?" Romeo asked

"Social dancing!" Happy answered

"Social dancing? What's that?" He asked just as Natsu stepped on Lucy's foot, Kinana, Mira and Eiran had come to watch too.

"So it's a game where you step on each other's feet…" Romeo said

"I don't think that's the aim…" Kinana told him

"No it's more like what they're practicing to avoid" Lia told him

"Social dancing is where a man and woman pair up and dance at a ball" Mira explained

"That looks like a fun game!" Gray stated as Lia face palmed.

"It's not a game!" Lucy shouted at him, he took off his shirt and tried to dance with Lucy before he got kicked away by her.

"If it means being able to dance with Gray, Juvia will strip, too!" Juvia yelled as she took off her cape.

"I was once known as the 'dancing demon' so if you want to learn social dancing, leave it to me." Erza said as she joined as Natsu freaked out she requiped into a dress "All right, Natsu! Let's go!"

"Nah, I'll pass." Natsu replied

"No excuses! Dancing is all about…Fighting spirit!" Erza said as she started spinning Natsu around, when she finally stopped Lisanna stepped in and ended spinning him even more.

Erza ended up dancing…spinning Elfman.

"Somehow that's what you'd expect when you sent Fairy Tail to a ball" Lia said

Lia watched as Warren and Wendy danced together, Happy and Carla, and even Romeo and Kinana started dancing.

Macao and Wakaba both asked Mira to dance with them which turned to a fight between them, by the time they turned Mira was dancing with Eiran.

The same repeated with Jet and Droy who both asked Levy, but she ended up dancing with Gajeel.

"It looks really fun!" Raine stated as she and Sol watched

Raine ended up dancing with Freed and Sol with Laki, as the rest of the guild ended up joining, Lia slipped away and made her way to train in the forest like she was used to.

On her way, there though as she passed through Magnolia first, she was lost in thought over how to deal with that spell that kept misbehaving as she read through her notes, she was so lost that she ended walking straight into someone.

She squeaked as she was about to fall but was immediately caught with a hand going behind her and catching her by the waist.

"Easy there" The person who caught her said as he helped steady her on her feet "You okay?"

Lia looked at him while fighting a blush, He was a handsome muscular guy, slick blonde hair, hazel eyes, he was taller than her.

"Uh" Lia tried to formulate words, she coughed taking a small step back "Yeah, thanks for helping me. Sorry I ran into you…I wasn't…"

He chuckled "It's okay, getting hit by a cute girl, isn't bad" He told her as the blush she fought showed, he crouched down picking up her fallen notebook "You dropped this"

"Thanks" She said as he gave it to her

"Fairy Tail?" He noted as he saw her guild mark on her hand "So, I'm guessing your part of the Tenroujima group?"

News was flying around about their return, it's not everyday people come back from the dead while not looking a day older, even with magic.

"Yeah, but why did you assume it?" Lia asked him

"I go through Magnolia a lot, so I have seen the few wizards that were left at Fairy Tail before, and I don't think they'll be getting new recruits, so…" He shrugged, as Lia grimaced people weren't gentle when they talked about Fairy Tail, given he didn't tell her straight on, that Fairy Tail sucked and they have been losing all their members was probably him being considerate. "Sorry didn't mean it like that…uh…It's great they're still holding like that…"

Lia waved him off "We'll show everyone, so just be prepared to be impressed" as he chuckled

"Now I remember, Lia…Lia Sephiran, right?!" He asked her

"Yeah, but how did…" She was asking but he already answered

"I read about you in that article seven years ago, I just remembered the photo from back then" He told her shrugging while smiling. "My name's Xenos…Xenos Aura"

"Well nice to meet you Xenos" She told him "I should get going, thanks for catching me again and sorry I hit you"

"Never mind it! See you around" He told her winking as she started walking away, this time her notebook shut as she paid attention, maybe stopping using her sense wasn't that good of an idea.

Two days later, Lia was hearing all about the ball from them, and how they didn't get the reward because Velveno ended getting the ring, but instead of stealing it, he proposed to Aceto, the daughter of the client.

"It's so Romantic" Lia commented in agreement.

"Would have been better if we got our reward though" Lucy stated "I will get kicked out, if I can't pay my rent!"

"Sorry, Lucy!" Venus tried to comfort the blonde

"We all need the money though" Levy said from beside them on the table, Shadow gear had ended up with half the pay of their last job because the criminal they were supposed to catch, ended up destroying half the town as he tried to hit them "Sorry about staying with you for this long, Venus, Lia"

"Never mind it, Levy" Venus told her

"Your welcome for as long as you want" Lia added

Evergreen had already managed to save enough money to start renting an apartment, So that left Levy, Erza, Cana, Juvia, Wendy and Carla.

"That doesn't solve the money problem though" Carla stated standing on the table, Wendy though was busy playing with Asuka.

"True" Levy agreed as Lucy groaned, Erza and Gray had ended up going on a mission alone earlier, since they couldn't find Natsu, and Lucy was late coming to the guild, and since Natsu haven't come back from where ever he was, she couldn't head out by herself.

Coincidentally, Juvia had disappeared, just as Erza and Gray left.

A loud squeak though interrupted their conversation as everyone in the guild to the source, Raine, standing at the request board, with her hands now covering her mouth as she blushed red.

After the rest of the guild went back to what they were doing, Raine sat with Lia, Lucy, Venus and Levy as she showed them what got her excited.

"Ancient text got discovered while they were expanding the mines" Levy read as she got excited too

"But apparently since then the mines have been haunted by ghosts" Lia finished which made both Lucy and Venus pale.

"G-Ghosts?!" Lucy questioned as Lia nodded

"Weird accidents and sounds have been heard, and even when people avoided the mines the 'ghosts' started coming out at night" Lia read

"Would explain the reward though" Levy said "5 million jewels"

Lucy reaction switched from scared to excited "Can I go with you Raine?"

"But why did you react like that?" Venus questioned as she swallowed trying to forget about the ghosts

"They wrote one of the runes, that appeared the most" She told them as she pointed at the symbol written "It's Dagaz!"

"Isn't that you're the rune you use for transformation?" Lia asked as she nodded while looking excited

"But If it's a place filled with ancient text and that rune repeats the most it's probably an altar" She explained "A place where an orb is hidden!"

Sol had gone on a job with Bisca and Alzack, which meant Raine was left to go on her own.

"Alright, let's go on this job!" Lucy cheered

"Can I come too, Raine?!" Levy asked her

"The more the merrier" Raine said "Besides I have no idea how to deal with ghosts"

"Deal with ghosts?" Venus muttered "I don't think…"

"Come on it'll be fun Venus" Lia smirked at the girl "Besides I doubt they are actual ghosts!"

* * *

Venus ended up going with them, they next day, they had made their way by carriage to the mining town, Rubyreach, reaching it by the afternoon.

Rooted next to a mountain, Rubyreach, mainly depended on the mines for profit. The town looked different, for one most of the buildings were cottage like built out of wood, the dirt roads stretched through the town, and with the ghost stories the town looked like a ghost town.

"I wonder where everyone is" Raine questioned with a sad expression, Lia knew why…this was how Lilac village looked while they were being threatened by that dark guild.

Lia stretched her sense, before she caught something "This way" She told them leading the way.

"Are you sure?" Venus asked nervous

"What if everyone's hiding for a reason?" Lucy wondered nervous as well, all though of money gone for now.

"But they said the ghosts come out at night" Levy told them "We're still in the afternoon"

The four girls froze though when music reached their ears, Lia though kept walking, she was leading them to where the music was coming from anyway.

"Well at least it got good taste" Venus said as she tapped her feet to the western music.

"It's not the ghost" Lia told them chuckling "I can sense people from there, actually I think the entire town's in there"

They reached the somewhat large building, with the word Saloon on the building, the music was louder than ever as they pushed the double doors and entered.

People were dancing in the middle, with others sitting at the bar drinking and chatting, other sat on the tables eating, drinking and talking and there were those that stood and watched in the first floor or from the balcony view from the second floor as they clapped in rhyme for the dancers.

At the stage on the other side, were a music band that was playing for them.

"This is…" Raine stared in awe

"…Unexpected" Lucy finished

"It doesn't look like the ghost bothers them that much" Levy said

"The music is amazing" Venus said grinning.

"Howdy, Ladies!" An old man greeted with a grin as he approached them "I don't think I have seen your beautiful faces before"

"Oi, Milton! who are you botherin' now?" Another man asked as he approached them

"None of your concern, Hubert!" Milton yelled back

"Excuse me, we're looking for August Bush" Lia told him, Venus was meanwhile too engrossed with the music, Raine shying away from all the unfamiliar faces, Lucy and Levy were still paying attention to the conversation.

"Why would you want that old guy?" Milton asked them still grinning, and it was obvious he was checking Lucy who was wearing the most revealing clothes out of all of them, Lucy cringed hiding behind Lia.

"We're Fairy Tail wizards" Levy said "We came here for the ghost request"

Milton's grin was gone instantly as he frowned "Alrighty, Oi, August!" He turned around calling "The wizards are here!"

The loud call seemed to have frozen the previously carefree and chaotic atmosphere, everyone watched them now, as they whispered between themselves.

Levy had now retreated as well at all the attention, so that both her and Raine were hiding behind the rest of the girls.

"Guess there's trouble after all" Venus said swallowing

"But is it really that dangerous?" Lucy wondered with all the pity looks they were being given.

"Back to your business people!" An old short man shouted as he approached them "Welcome to Rubyreach, Ladies! The name's August, the mayor of this dandy burg!"

He led them to another building, where they each sat on a chair, while the man sat on top of his office desk.

"About dang time someone took the request, although I hoped for a better guild, goes to show Actual doesn't everythin'" He said which made both Raine and Levy flinch, Venus and Lucy nervously stare away, and Lia narrow her eyes "and I didn't expect women and so young too, you really think you can handle it, when men twice your size couldn't?"

"I assure you, we're up for the task" Lia said crossing her hands while narrowing her eyes at him "Fairy Tail is better than you think, and just because we're women doesn't mean we're weak"

August laughed "It isn't about bein' strong, dang ghosts play on the mind" He told her grinning "heap of my miners, come out part loon, part embarrassed, part depressed and All to Pieces horrified."

"Loon?!" Venus questioned

"Embarrassed?!" Raine wondered

"Horrified?!" Lucy asked as she and Venus were white sheet

"We can handle it" Lia told him "Just point us to the mines, we'll also need a map of the tunnels"

"You're brave, suit yourself, just remember I warned ya" He told them He jumped from the desk and grabbed a large map from one of the drawers.

"Here" He said handing them the map, before he led them to the mine entrance and left them with warning again to turn back.

"Um…Lia?!" Levy asked slowly, out of all the girls, Levy knew Lia the longest, and she knew Lia didn't like anyone insulting Fairy Tail.

"Let's go we're getting rid of that ghost, one way or another!" Lia said as the others didn't even try and show how scared they were with the anger seeping in her tone.


	26. Mind Games!

"Everything is normal so far, just a dark, empty abandoned mine" Lucy said as they went deeper, heading for the spot where the ancient text was found as marked on their maps.

"It's weird" Venus said "I expected anything to show up by now"

"I don't really think there was a ghost" Levy said

"I was wondering, didn't the first master who saved us be considered a ghost?" Raine asked which made the other three girls walk rigidly.

Lia, who was carrying the torch, walked in the front silent as she kept focusing on sensing magic, she had a theory this was a trick done with magic, it was the best explanation, but so far she couldn't sense anything, which was weird, since she couldn't even sense the magic that's supposed to naturally exist in the air. "Lia?" Venus called nervously she wasn't liking the quietness surrounding them and the fact her housemate was so quiet didn't set well with her.

"Hmm?" Lia mused not turning in the least, too concerned with the magicless air around them.

"You don't sense anything?" Venus asked her before Lia could reply though, a gust of wind came and their torch was gone leaving them in complete darkness, it wasn't natural given it came from the inside of the mine.

"What happened?!" Lucy wondered

"One second" Lia conjured a fire ball that hovered over her palm spreading a small light, before they could move though, the mine started shaking.

"An earthquake?!" Venus wondered as they huddled against the wall, but suddenly a hole appeared under her as she fell screaming.

"Venus!" Lia and Lucy called, before Levy's scream as she fell down another hole

Both holes were immediately blocked, like there wasn't even a hole in the first place.

Lia grit her teeth, but before she could teleport or do anything she found herself held by hands that extended from the wall she was leaning against.

"I-Is that…?!" Lucy spluttered

"Lia…?!" Raine called before Lia was pulled into the wall with not trace remaining in the wall she was even there.

Lucy and Raine hugged each other in fear, as the shaking stopped and they were left in complete darkness.

"What do we do?" Raine asked shaking

"Huh?" Lucy had reached for her keys chain only to find it gone, "My keys are gone!"

Raine reached for her orbs pouch to find it gone as well "My pouch's gone too!"

A sound of a creepy laughed vibrated through the cave from the direction they had come from.

"Run?!" Raine wondered as she swallowed

"Yeah!" Lucy answered as they both started running in the opposite direction, away from the laugh that seemed to be coming closer.

In another part of the cave, Venus groaned as she got up, she was sore but thankfully not hurt.

"What the hell was that?" She muttered as she dusted her clothes, before freezing, why the hell was this place lit? she was still underground, right?!

Even though it dim, there were lights around her, she even noted the ground her was no longer made of rock. A bright light shined suddenly in her face as she covered her face before blinking as she gabbed.

"We will present tonight's entertainment in a minute" A voice boomed "The musician everyone loves…but first let's give a round of applause for the opening show"

Silence met Venus as she found herself holding a guitar and standing on stage.

Elsewhere, Levy opened her eyes and she stared at the mirror, as her eyes widened. "Why am I wearing a wedding dress?!"

"Hey, Levy!" Lucy entered the room Levy was in "What are you doing? Everyone's waiting for you!"

Lia wandered in the darkness, she had tried running but she couldn't find a way out, she had tried to use her magic for light, but every time she a gust of wind put it out. she couldn't see, smell, hear or even find anything to touch, and even her sense couldn't find anything, magical or else.

"Lucy! Venus! Raine! Levy!" Lia called for the umpteenth time, but no reply came. "What's going on?" She wondered as she kept walking, she muttered to herself to make any sound, she was going to go mad like this.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea" Raine muttered with fear "It's my fault!"

"It's not, we all wanted to come" Lucy tried to assure her, they both had calmed down as that creepy laugh had dissappeared, so they used the wall as a guide while clutching hands so they don't lose each other in this darkness. "We'll find a way out, don't worry."

A gust of wind came, stronger than the one from before, Lucy and Raine clutched each other.

In another part of the mine, one person stood half hidden in the shadow as he grinned "Wonderful…Absolutely Wonderful! Will or Fear!" He said "I wonder which will conquer?! Also, my very comical show of embarrassment, Then there's not one but two summoners! This game is going to be a fun one!"

Venus was getting slumped, she couldn't play! No matter how hard she tried, she kept hitting the wrong chords, she kept falling on thin air, and add in the booing of the crowd that was getting louder and calling for her to leave and that she wasn't good.

She didn't know why was this happening, she could feel the tears forming in her eyes, she loved music more than anything, and she was lucky she was good at it, which meant she could do what she loved and make others fall in love with it.

So why was she suddenly so bad?! What happened?!

'Give up!' A voice said in her head and her hand went still as she very much considered it.

"But I am not ready for this, Lu!" Levy yelled at her friend

"Levy, you're being silly, there's nothing to be afraid of!" Lucy argued "You love Ga-"

"Don't say it!" Levy yelled beat red "This isn't real! I was in a mine! We were about to get attacked! I wasn't getting married!"

Lia was on her knees, too tired to keep on walking in this endless darkness, she needed help…no she had to handle herself…she didn't want anyone to get hurt because of her again.

"Pity you're so weak, right?" A voice echoed in the darkness "Let's face it, the chance of you ever actually saving anybody is close to none"

"Who's there?" Lia asked

"Let's count the most recent events attempted saves" The voice continued "There are three that happened on Tenroujima, the one where you tried to finish Leona to get to Raine but you were too late and the poor girl got defeated!"

Lia tried getting up, but something tied her down and before she knew it her hands were tied too.

"Attempted Rescue number two, when you jumped in front of Natsu to save him from Hades, just to need saving yourself and get saved by Laxus" The feminine voice said tusking "And finally, when Laxus almost got hit and you jumped as you tried to stop the beam but failed and you both got hit!"

"How do you know all this?!" Lia asked "Who are you?!"

"And that's just taking recent events into count" The voice continued as it got closer to Lia "Let's not forget, that one time…where you first decided not to be pathetic, because they almost died because of you"

Raine and Lucy ran as they tried to escape the monsters chasing them, especially since somehow, Lucy had ended up losing her keys, and Raine lost her rune pouch, with the orbs in them.

And what creeped them even more were the wall lamps that lit on their own

"What are those things?!" Lucy yelled as they ran, the monsters behind them weren't anything they have seen before, some instead of legs had springs, some had creepy clown faces, some even looked like mimes.

The clowns produced the same creepy laugh as the one they had heard before

Raine pulled her to stop as she noticed a few other appeared in front of them, they were surrounded as they stood back to back swallowing.

"If we get out of here I promise I won't be greedy anymore!" Lucy screeched

"What do we do now?!" Rained wondered scared to death, this was her first time seeing clowns….and she already hated them.

Venus stared down, as she stopped playing, even with the booing and insults, she took a breath before looking at the bright light, that made it impossible to see the crowd.

"Oh shut it!" Venus shouted at them "Good at playing or not! I'm gonna do what I love!" She raised her hand and started playing and even though she kept missing notes, she kept almost slipping, she kept going.

"Like hell, I'm gonna stop!" Venus shouted she didn't know at who, "I never did it for fame or others approval, I did it because I wanted to do it!"

Lia stared with horror, at the source of the voice, she was staring at herself. "W-Who are you?!" Lia asked stuttering

"I am you" She replied "The true you…the one that truly knows you! The one that knows how pathetic you really are!"

Lia breathed looking down, she stayed silent, "Cat got your tongue?!" She asked Lia "Are you finally realizing it? Realizing how you just-"

She stopped as Lia used her magic destroying the restraints keeping her on the ground, as she stood up, glaring at her doppelganger "I am pathetic…" Lia said before her eyes narrowed "...I am…for not realizing what was going on from the start!"

"What are you talking about?!" The other Lia asked nervously

Lia though, breathed as she focused on her magic "Destroy!" around her the world shattered like glass falling to the ground, she looked ahead glaring at the person behind this, who was shaking his head.

"That isn't how the game works!" He said tusking

"So you're the said ghost?!" Lia said as she stared at him "You're actually a spirit?!" Lia could sense it now, the magic around in him was somewhat like Raine's spirit and given the fact she could now sense the magic in the air around her, she was thankful but mad.

All around her slumped on the ground were her friends, she stared at the spirit who was behind this from the start, though she couldn't sense a summoner anywhere close.

The place they were in was wide with light coming from all the ancient writings on the walls, they shone brightly to light the place

"Wonderful…your observation skills are top notch" He said clapping, Lia took his appearance, he had mismatched eyes, the left being green and the right orange, along with black silky hair, and he wore a black suit.

"Let my friends go" Lia demanded causing him to sigh

"You see, I can't do that, you broke the rules" He told her "If you had won and got out fairly, I would have let your friends go!"

"What rules?! You think playing with people's heads is a game?!" Lia yelled at him as he smirked

"Well you said it, playing, which means it is a game" He told her as Lia fumed "You see, miss Lia, people's heads are always different, even the almost similar have differences, it's always fun to see how they would react when they face what they fear, or to face failure or even how they deal with embarrassment" He grinned "It's always entertaining!"

"That wasn't entertaining!" Venus groaned as she got up, while holding her head "It's not fun to face an angry crowd!"

"Nicely done, Miss Venus!" He clapped for her "You excelled with a star, thus you get one command"

"What?!" Venus questioned as Lia was confused herself "Let my friends go?" She said but it came out as a question, with a motion of his hand, Levy, Lucy and Raine groaned.

"What's going on?" Levy asked as she looked around her

"Everyone, you're okay" Lucy said as she looked at them

"But what was that?" Raine wondered as she got up, the five of them turned to face the guys standing there, as Raine's eyebrows knit together as she stared at him "A Rune spirit!"

"And you're a rune spirit wizard" He stated with a sigh "Haven't met one in over 400 years and this is what I get." With a sigh and an overly dramatic wave of his hand "To think fate would deal me such a bad hand"

"A spirit? So, the one behind this isn't a ghost?" Lucy questioned as he grinned

"Guilty as charged" He raised his hand playfully "Now that you ladies are awake, let me tell you how things go from here" He was now serious as he stared at them, which made them wary "Since your friend here" He motioned to Venus "Passed my welcome game, she released all of you, so now you're welcome to leave peacefully, or I'll show you my true power!"

They swallowed as he let his magic release, the pressure in the air rose exponentially. "What's your condition?!" Raine surprised them as she took a step forward and demanded

"condition?" Venus questioned

"That's how the contract in Rune spirit magic is formed" Levy explained since she had read about it "She must follow any condition the spirit sets to the end, if she wants to form a contract"

"Kind of makes me glad, I only have to agree on days" Lucy muttered

"Hmm…you sure you want to do this?" He asked her as she stood her ground

"You get out" She said turning to them "I can handle this"

Lia and the others were surprised to see Raine take command like that, Lia grinned as she walked to stand beside Raine "I'm staying to help"

"Me too" Lucy agreed standing beside Lia

"Count us in too!" Venus told her as she and Levy walked beside her

"Everyone…" Raine muttered thankful as she turned to the spirit.

"Wonderful…my condition my dear summoner…" He told them "is to win a game"

Lia, Levy and Venus grimaced, they couldn't handle any more of his games.

"Alright, what game?" Raine asked him as he smirked clapping his hands together

"A guessing game…If you guess my name correctly you win" He told her

"That's it?!" Lucy questioned

"That's the goal, the rules are simple, you get three guesses, I'm going to be attacking you too while you're thinking, and after each wrong guess…you face a challenge… if you guess all three wrong…well I think Miss Raine knows what happens" He told them as they looked at her as she shook her head "Also to prevent cheating" He held his hand up which now had two familiar items, Lucy's key chain and Raine's rune pouch which made the two girls startled as they checked and they were really gone "You won't be asking any of your summons my name"

"Why my summons too?!" Lucy asked him

"You can't be that ignorant, Miss Lucy" he said sighing while Lucy blushed "All spirits know each other some way, so do you accept, Miss Raine?!"

"Yes I do!" She replied as he smirked

"Let the game start!" He said

* * *

They ran like hell was chasing them, and for Lia it was, 4 Huge 6 feet dogs chased them through the mines and for Lia who utterly and completely afraid of normal dogs, this was a nightmare.

"Why aren't we fighting back?!" Venus questioned as they ran

"We don't have a way to summon!" Lucy yelled back

"And I doubt Lia can do anything like this" Levy cried as they stared at the white-faced Lia, who Venus had to pull, since the girl was too frozen with fear

"I-I can deal" Lia stuttered even though she was afraid, she knew she needed to help "You guys go ahead, find out his name, quickly, please!"

Lia swallowed as Venus let go and she turned to face the massive dogs "I never thought face your fears would be quite this literal!" Lia muttered before placing her hand on the ground as she forced an earth wall behind her.

The dogs snarled and growled as they stared at Lia who swallowed "Nice doggies?" Lia tried but squeaked as she teleported behind the dogs just as one ran at where she stood earlier.

Behind the wall, the others stood "Was it really okay to just let her like that?!" Levy questioned

"Not much we could do, beside I doubt that's the only thing he would send after us" Venus added

"Raine, any idea how we figure his name?" Lucy asked the silent girl

"There are only 11 orbs, I can scratch four, the three I have and the one I know my teacher has" Raine stated "But still 7 is too many"

"We need to narrow it to three" Levy said "If we go back to that room, maybe we'll find clues in the writings"

"That's right" Lucy said "Good thinking Levy"

"One problem guys, is how do we head back?" Venus asked them "That and he'd probably be waiting there"

"Do you know anything about the spirits, Raine?" Lucy asked her

"Well their runes are usually related somehow, I am sure his rune is Dagaz" Raine said "Transformation, change, achievement conclusion to a passage…" She muttered before shaking her head "I don't know!"

A large shock hit the wall Lia had raised, "Fears?" Venus questioned "Maybe it's related?"

"What did he do to you anyway? For us we just got chased around by freakish monsters" Lucy told them

"I couldn't play music. Not even a chord" Venus told them "And I was on stage getting booed at"

They turned to a blushing Levy, who avoided their gaze.

"Uh…Do I have to?" Levy asked as they stared

Lia kept teleporting around, avoiding the dogs, wizard or not, she couldn't muster the courage to stand still and face her fear, as silly as it was normal dogs scared her, now she was facing four 6 feet hounds from hell, she probably would have run to the hills.

"You can't even stand to 4 puppies" Her other self materialized out of thin air "Pathetic!"

"Puppies?!" Lia deadpanned "And why are you showing up now?"

"For the same reason they're here" The other Lia told her motioning to the dogs "We're all here because of you, your worst fears, the ones you keep hidden the most, how you really think of yourself…and dogs"

Lia wondered what she did in her life to deserve to have this, she sighed before standing up straight too face her fears.

"You know if it was just dogs, I would have kept just dodging" Lia told her serious "But you I have been facing for years! So, Dogs or not, I am going to finish this damn job"

"Married?!" The three girls were shocked as Levy told them

"To who?" Lucy asked the girl, whose face got even redder

"I don't think it matters!" Levy answered as she buried her face in her hands.

"Well, that's…" Raine started

"I will play free of charge at your wedding, Levy!" Venus told Levy winking, which made Levy hide her face in her hands again with aa groan.

"Change, fears, moving forward…" Raine muttered she felt like it was at the tip of her tongue, Rune spirit magic was old and neglected and not all the spirits, like this one, were found, there were ancient scripts, it described some of the spirits but even then, for some reasons it never mentioned what spirit was associated with out rune.

They were surprised when the wall came down and Lia stood there with a stern look "Why did you just stand there?" She asked them

"Done already?" Venus asked her

"Actually…" Lia started confused "They sort of disappeared, once I actually faced them straight on…"

"That's…" Venus was surprised

"We're just glad you're okay" Lucy told her as Levy nodded

"Yeah, but kinda of makes me sick, that he thinks this is just a game" Lia grimaced

"A game!" Raine yelled as it hit her "Lia what did you face earlier when we were in that illusion?"

"Uh" Lia rubbed her arm looking away "My worst fear…I guess"

"With Lia and Venus he did that, but with the rest of us he was just having fun watching us!" Raine told them "I think at best now I can narrow it down to two!"

"That's great!" Lucy told her

* * *

They managed to make it back to that clearing with nothing to mention, it was quiet and there stood he, watching them quietly.

"I'm glad you managed to pass this time, Miss Lia" He said as Lia scoffed "Now, Miss Raine, are you take a chance?"

Raine swallowed, if she guessed wrong they would have to face a 'challenge' and she had a feeling it wouldn't be anything any good.

"Is it Hoor?" She asked as he shook his head

"Wrong answer" He told her "Now for this challenge, you'll be facing something that left quiet the mark on all of you" He then looked around "I think it will fit"

They were worried as they huddled together and made sure Lucy and Raine were covered, despite the prior could use her whip and the latter could still use her casted runes now with no need for medium but they weren't at full power…

They stared with horror, even Venus who had never seen it, even though they knew it wasn't the real deal, their minds didn't register that fact as they stared at Acnologia.

"Acnologia…?" Lucy gabbed with fear

"That's the apocalypse dragon?!" Venus questioned as she swallowed

"Why…? Out of everything…" Raine said

Lia though smirked "With how good you've been so far, I expected better" Lia told him "I could sense magic, and this trick doesn't even come close!" She breathed "It might look like it, but it doesn't even come half close to the terror of the real thing" She turned to her friends "It's still here, because you're scared! We've faced it before, and here we are, we can't let its shadow haunt us!"

"That's right, we're back now!" Lucy agreed

"We're not going to let it control us" Levy added

"Well, you guys faced the real thing" Venus said "I really can't just stay afraid"

"Your tricks won't work on us anymore" Raine faced him as the fake Acnologia faded "Loki!"

"Correct answer!" He clapped for them as some decorations appeared around them "You are quite the surprising group, most humans that came before you were too easy to trick!"

"Loki?!" Lucy questioned as she thought of her own spirit

"Remember, His actual name is Leo" Levy reminded

"The orb is right there" Loki told Raine as he pointed to the wall behind him "Here" He handed her, her pouch and Lucy's key chain. "Looking forward to working with you, my summoner!"

With that Loki faded away as they all blinked

"Is that it?!" Venus questioned "Somehow it's…anticlimactic!"

"For once…." Lia said as she breathed a sigh of relief, as Raine walked forward and pulled the orb from its location in the wall.

"That's job done!" Lucy cheered "My money here I come!"

"Calm down, Lu" Levy told the girl.

"Well we did earn it" Raine said as she walked towards them before the mine started shaking. "Is this…"

Lia pushed Raine out of the way as a large rock hit where she stood earlier. "RUN!" Lia shouted pulling Raine to her feet, as they started running out of the collapsing mine.

Above ground the entire village shook, as the festivities stopped, being a mining village, they knew any shaking of this magnitude meant something has happened at the mines so that's where they headed, but none dared venture in as the ground kept shaking, just as the five Fairy Tail girls jumped out of the mines entrance just, a large rock fell closing the entrance.

"Anticlimactic, right?" Lia wondered with frustration

"Sorry" Venus apologized

"At least we're alright!" Levy said as Raine groaned in agreement, Loki hadn't warned her about this and she was sure he knew this would happen.

"The mines?!" One of the villagers stated shocked "They're destroyed!"

"Our mines! What did you do?! We told you to get rid of the ghost not the mines!" August yelled at them

"We did get rid of the said ghost" Lia said

"Although, apparently, he was what kept the mine standing" Raine added

"Sorry!" Both Levy and Raine apologized

"I'm guessing we should forget about the reward?" Lucy asked with a crest fallen face

"Dang straight! you're lucky I am not goin' to charge you!" He yelled

"Why does it always end like this?" Lucy groaned as the others agreed.


	27. Becoming Fiore's number one!

Lia sighed as she leaned against a tree in the west forest, it's been a few days since they had done that job in Rubyreach. They were lucky it had a huge reward to begin with, or the guild would have been even more buried in debt.

It wasn't a complete loss though, Raine did end up getting a new spirit join her, even though he was annoying, and apparently like all spirits he was bound by his summoner strength which meant they wouldn't be seeing Acnologia anytime soon again.

That mission did get her thinking…more than before. Maybe it was time to face that fear, after all she had tried other ways, the training she had been doing for two weeks now since they came back was evidence and her failure in it was even more convincing.

"Now then…" She stood up stretching before she turned though as a certain dragon slayer entered her sensing range, before eventually walking into sight. "Laxus!"

"What are you doing here?!" He asked her as she rolled her eyes

"A simple hello would do!" She replied "But seeing you here mean you stayed, I thought I would have to hunt you all over Fiore!"

"Not like I had a much of a choice" He told her looking away "you said that the spell wasn't for free!"

Lia smiled, she did say that but they both knew, spell or no spell he would've stayed, he was just too stubborn to admit it.

"You're going to thank me…eventually" Lia told him, she had a solid idea of how to get him back into the guild, right now though she was waiting for Makarov's move. "Now though I have training to get back to"

Laxus eyes wondered to where she had a bunch of small lacrimas on the ground with a notebook beside them.

"You couldn't study at your house?" He asked her

"It's not studying…I'm trying to apply it" Lia said sighing, "Although even like that my house is…occupied" The girls staying with her didn't lounge around the house all day but they kept coming and going it was hard to have some quiet time there.

"They're still staying with you?" He asked her smirking as she rolled her eyes, before settling for revenge, she picked up a lacrima.

"Item enchant: defense!" She casted the spell before she threw it at him, he easily caught it but his hand did end up jerking back and even then, the magic crystal was heavy. "Of course you can carry it! Why am I not surprised?"

"You just threw it yourself" He told her with a raised eyebrow

"I threw it right as I casted the spell, so I didn't get to hold its weight" Lia replied sighing "Item enchantment is too weird, and I haven't managed to pull even one correct enchantment!"

"Maybe change the way you're creating it?" Laxus suggested but she shook her head

"I am not creating it" She stated "Item enchantment was my great grandfather's specialty, and his notes are as detailed as they can get! And that's not the only fault, the items I enchant destroy themselves too!" as on que the lacrima in Laxus's hand turned to dust. "My Grandfather used it to turn anything to all kinds of explosives! Mom branched off with elemental item enchantment while I can't manage one little defense enchantment!"

Probably the closest time Lia had come close to a working item enchantment was when she came back four…eleven years ago and had to deal with getting into her house. But even then, she hadn't recasted the enchantment more like she resupplied them with magic so they can keep going.

She knew she wasn't a complete failure though, she had been the one to start with body enchantment, and it started from simply wanting to help ease motion sickness of a certain dragon slayer.

"But didn't you already learn how to use elements?" Laxus asked her crossing his arms as she pouted.

"They're not the same, enchantment it's more…messy, at least with particle magic…" Lia said sighing before looked at him thoughtfully.

"Are you hungry?" She asked him as she held a lacrima before standing "It's my treat!"

Laxus raised an eyebrow but didn't reply, which Lia took as an agreement. "Item enchant: Lightning!" She casted the spell on the stone before throwing it at Laxus who caught it as she teleported a distance away.

Laxus was confused for a few seconds, before the stone in his hand started sparking and it released a high shock of lightning that would have completely paralyzed a normal person and scorching the ground around him, the stone like it's presider died out and turned to dust.

"A little warning next time" He told her as she walked towards him

"Tell me it at least tasted good?" She joked "The first time I tried it, it was with fire"

"You used Natsu?" he questioned as she shook her head

"Let's just say I am lucky Juvia happened to be nearby" Lia said with a nervous chuckle

"Maybe you should stop trying with this" He told her as she sighed crossing her arms "You know, you told me before particle magic was different, because it was a magic within a magic" Laxus told Lia "You know what magic suits you best, why do you keep trying to follow your family?"

"Because my magic isn't the best for me, I am not…I can't handle it" Lia said and swallowed what the rest of what she wanted to say.

"Because of the seal, right?" He told her as she looked away "You're not planning on removing it?"

"I-I don't know" she replied as she cursed herself for stuttering like that before taking a breath "I am surprised you remembered what I said though" Lia knew she tended to ramble a lot when it came to her magic, she couldn't help it.

Laxus shrugged in reply "You said it enough for it to stuck" He said as Lia chuckled nervously.

She turned just as someone entered her sensing range.

"I knew I would find you here" Eiran said as he walked into sight "Didn't expect you though" He said to Laxus "I thought you left Magnolia?"

"Didn't have much of a choice" He said as he looked to Lia who rolled her eyes.

"Yeah because I am a powerful, monster mage that can stand to an S rank lightning dragon slayer" She said as Eiran shook his head grinning and Laxus huffed

"Anyway, Lia, it's like you said" Eiran told her "Master just went with Gildarts to the old guild hall" Laxus was confused as Lia brightened "You asked me to tell you if he ended up going with any of the S class somewhere with just the two of them"

"Finally!" Lia cheered "I was starting to think I might be wrong! And It's Gildarts? It's going to be even easier!"

"Should we be worried?" Laxus asked Eiran who nodded

"For Gildarts and Master" Eiran said nodding

"Where are you staying Laxus?" Lia asked him

"I moved into a house at the edge of the forest" He replied

"Alright!" She had her stuff packed into her bag "I got to go handle things now, but I might just come find you in the next few days, Later!"

And like that she was gone, as she ran away.

"How did she get you to stay?" Eiran asked

"I am guessing the same way she got you to watch the old man" Laxus replied

Eiran chuckled "It's scary how she plans something when she really wants it to happen" Eiran said as Laxus agreed.

* * *

Gildarts stood on the small bridge over the water cannel, as he stared into space while remembering what Makarov had showed him, and how he was making him guild master.

It sounded silly to him, he would never make it as master, would he?

"Gildarts" Lia called as she walked up to him "Thought I would find you here" It was his favorite spot. Lia looked at him his bad mood obviously showing as she smiled softly "Not taking the news from gramps very good, huh? For it all counts, I think you'd make a great master!"

Gildarts looked at her shocked that she knew. "How did you know?" Lia winked before she turned to stare at the cannel

"It was obvious the day he told Macao to stay as master and didn't take the position back" Lia told him "It meant he was planning on stepping down and giving the title to someone else, I figured all this time, he was thinking which one from the S rank would be best" She looked towards him "And when Eiran told me he met with you this morning, I figured he must have decided on you and you just confirmed it!"

"Don't tell me you had Eiran watching master?" Gildarts asked as she nodded which made him deadpan "I am figuring you were doing all that for a purpose?"

"Yeah, I was" Lia told him "I have a request" She stared at him seriously as she turned to face him "Can you let Laxus back into the guild?"

Gildarts blinked once…twice before he roared with laughter "Of course you did it for that" Lia deadpanned.

"Not seeing what's funny" Lia told him crossing her arms

"You were watching what the master did and deciphering the meaning behind it and you even had Eiran watch him just to ask to let Laxus back in" Gildarts told her "You know your mother was like that she would go to incredible length, to do what she wants" Lia blinked as she blushed lightly, it wasn't everyday she was told she was like Sophia.

Mostly the similarities between them ended at their orange hair and some small resemblance, or so Lia thought.

"But on that topic, you really think he deserves to come back?" Gildarts asked her "You know just because he did one good deed and helped you on Tenroujima, doesn't mean he's a good guy, or that he's back to being the kid you grew up with"

"I know, but I saw the change, in that fight he helped us, and he showed us his regret" Lia said remembering what he said when he was about to be hit by Hades's spell. And when they though Makarov would sacrifice himself, he cried. "He's not the kid I grew up with" We're both not those kids anymore "But he's also not the arrogant guy from Fantasia, I think he deserves his second chance, and he's already started to make up for those mistakes and I know he'll carry their burden with him!"

Gildarts stared at her, seeing the determination in her eyes. "I'll think about it" He told her which made her grin

"That's all I needed to hear" Lia told him "When is gramps announcing it?"

"Tomorrow" Gildarts grumbled

"You know I said you'd make a great master" Lia told him "And It's true but let's face it, you like to travel more than anything"

* * *

The next morning, almost everyone was gathered in the guildhall excluding Lucy, Wendy, Gray, Natsu, Happy and Carla, who after Natsu almost lost to Max in a fight this morning, went to Porlyusica to find a way to get stronger and hadn't come back yet.

Lia had dragged Laxus to the guild hall so he would be there for the announcement as well. Everyone stood listening to Makarov's announcement.

"And so…I've decided to retire. I'm going to introduce the next master to you now. The fifth Fairy Tail master…Gildarts Clive!" Makarov said as he pointed to where he expected Gildarts to be standing, but Mira stood there as she waved, Lia put a hand to her mouth as she tried to stifle her laughter as Laxus looked at her suspiciously. "Where's Gildarts?!" Makarov asked Mira who handed him a letter.

"Master, as well as everyone in the guild" Makarov read aloud "I'm sorry, but I'm not cut out to be a 'master'." Almost everyone ended up laughing even Lia who couldn't keep it in "Well…I will take the opportunity to give two orders as the fifth master." Makarov continued "The first one which I had told Lia I would think about and I agree to it." Lia grinned "which is to accept Laxus as a member of Fairy Tail." Laxus was surprised.

"That' taking liberties!" Makarov said

"But if the master says so, you can't refuse, right?" Lia told him with a smirk, while thinking it was check mate, as Makarov looked away.

"Isn't that great, Laxus?" Bickslow said as Evergreen hugged Laxus's arm.

"Now the thunder tribe is complete again!" She said

"Let go, Freed!" Lia complained at the crying Freed hugging her

"Thank you!" Freed cried "And Gildarts…what a guy…"

"If that's what the fifth master rules, we have no choice but to obey." Makarov said

"You know master, a simple welcome back or I missed you would do" Eiran told him grinning

Makarov ignored them as he continued reading "The second: I appoint Mr. Makarov Dreyar the sixth Fairy Tail master." This shocked the master as the guild started laughing "Me again?!" He then continued reading "I'm going to travel for a while. But I'll come back when I'm in the mood. Until then, take care."

Mira walked towards Cana handing her a letter as well, the Burnette ended just shreaded the communication card that was inside in half. "I don't need it!" Cana said "I already told you things were fine the way they were between us, old man!"

Makarov continued reading "Fairy Tail is my home. I will return. I pray that by then, Fairy Tail will once again be Fiore's number one guild. but that's not my duty. It's yours. Master, that's your last job." As they all smiled "To make Fairy Tail Fiore's number one guild again!"

"My last job, you say?! Jackass!" Makarov blew "Since it's come to this, I'm not gonna let anyone else be master!" As they all laughed in reply "I'll be master till the day I die! Booze! Bring out the booze!"

Celebration broke out in the guild as everyone started drinking and talking, Laxus after getting his guild mark, was surrounded by the thunder tribe who were glad he was finally back.

"Welcome back!" Lia said as she walked to him, with a beer jug "Told ya, I would get you back in"

"But how did you do it, Lia?" Evergreen asked her as Lia winked

"I have my ways" Lia mused

"Makes you wonder what you would if you wanted revenge on someone" Laxus muttered as Lia grinned

"What matters is Laxus is back now" Freed said as Lia took a seat with them.

"That Gildarts…Fiore's number one guild, he says…" Warren said loudly

"That's being way too optimistic!" Max said

"Oh, no, it's not. It's good to be ambitious." Erza said

"Yeah, if this were seven years ago…" Warren replied

"But things are different now." Max told her

"I don't get it, I mean it's not going to be easy but not impossible, right?" Raine wondered

"Impossible might be the words to describe it" Alzack replied "There's Sabertooth…"

"There's also Lamia and Pegasus too" Bisca added "They're powerful guilds that can't even be compared to what they were seven years ago."

"They're huge guilds!" Asuka said

"There are also guilds like Mermaid heel, who are getting more known recently" Venus said sighing

"Standing next to them, even with our main members back…" Bijiter said

"The Tenrou group isn't any stronger than they were seven years ago." Laki added as the Tenrou group looked down

"There's no way to make up for the seven-year gap." Macao said, Lia looked down, she knew that for her at least there was a way.

"Whether we're talkin' in individual magic power or the guild's overall strength, becoming Fiore's number one guild is impossible!" Wakaba told them

"But with training we could get stronger" Eiran said "It might take some time to number one but you guys are being too pessimistic"

"I agree, it'll take some time before we can get back to the way we were then." Erza said

"I've already waited seven years!" Romeo said jumping on one of the tables "I don't wanna take any more time, Eiran, Erza!"

"Romeo!" Macao yelled at him

"There's just one way to become number one in a hurry!" Romeo told them, which made all the members but the Tenrou group shocked.

"Forget it! I already decided we wouldn't be participating in that!" Macao told him

"What do you mean by 'that', fourth?" Makarov asked

"Would you not call me that, sixth?" Macao replied

Somehow from this point it turned to a shouting match between father and son. "We're gonna be in it! We're gonna! We're gonna!"" Romeo shouted

"No, We're not! We're not! We're not! We're not!" Macao shouted back "I refuse to give permission! We're never gonna take part in that again!"

"Would be nice to know what 'that' is!" Lia said dryly as the thunder tribe agreed with her

"We're home!" Natsu shouted as he and the others stood at the door

"Oh, you're back, huh?" Max said "Did you get good medicine?"

"Just Wendy." Lucy said

"You don't have the right to decide that anymore, Dad! You're not the master!" Romeo shouted

"I'm speaking as a member of the guild!" Macao replied "Who doesn't wanna participate?!"

As everyone who were in the guild during the seven years raised their hands, except Romeo and Sol.

"That's one thing I don't wanna do again." Alzack said

"It'll just expose us to ridicule…" Bisca added

"It's more like social suicide as things stand" Venus said raising her hand "We would lose what few jobs we have now"

"But now we've got the Tenrou group!" Romeo argued "We've got Natsu and Erza! How could Fairy Tail lose?!"

"But the Tenrou group got a seven-year blank!" Warren told him

"What's this about being in it or not?" Natsu asked

"While you guys were gone, a festival started up to decide the number one guild in Fiore." Sol explained as Happy and Natsu cheered "All the guilds in Fiore gather and compete with each other with their magic! It's called the Grand Magic Games!"

Everyone from the Tenrou group were excited to hear about it. "Sound like fun!" Raine said

"It was, until we kept getting beat" Sol said

"I see…right now, the number one guild in Fiore is said to be Sabertooth, right?" Erza said

"That's right! If we beat Sabertooth and win the games, we'll become Fiore's number one guild!" Romeo said

"But…I don't know if you guys are strong enough to pull that off right now…" Makarov said as Macao agreed

"If we win, the guild gets 30 million jewel as a reward!" Romeo said which made Makarov decide they're entering

"He knows how to play his cards" Eiran said chuckling as he realized he reminded him of Lia

The others tried to argue with Makarov as Jet told them they were always in last place.

"We'll take that crummy record and destroy it!" Makarov declared punching the air

"When is that tournament?!" Natsu asked with his fist on fire

"Three months from now." Romeo told him

"Plenty of time! By then, we'll be lean and mean, and Fairy Tail will become Fiore's number one guild again!" Natsu said as the Tenrou group agreed with determination, while the others weren't as excited.

Lia was thinking it was more than enough time and deciding to swallow her fear. She had to do it, right?

"I've already decided we're gonna do it, so there's no point in complaining!" Makarov said "Let's aim for the 30 million…ahem, I mean, aim for Fiore's number one! Team Fairy Tail is going to enter the Grand Magic Games!"

 **We're almost at the GMG arc sadly my final exams are coming up so updates aren't going to be as regular, there's one more chapter next week, the last one before GMG but after updating will take a bit my exams end mid june so updates will be regular again then :D**

 **Hope you're enjoying the story, if you do Favorite and Follow, Review your opinion too I would love to hear what you guys think ^_^**


	28. Risks helps you grow!

"You want to release it?" Makarov asked in confirmation as Lia nodded "That's…"

"Dangerous, I know!" Lia said, Makarov regarded her with a questioning look.

It was the next day after Fairy Tail had decided to join the Grand magic games.

Lia and Makarov were talking in the area behind the guild hall, and since everyone were busy deciding what to do for training and where to go they had all the privacy they needed.

"You don't have to go so far for the guild, you can continue with how you are now" He told her

"Leave it for everyone else, right? But I can't…" Lia said "It's been too long…I am used to how it is right now…It's easy…an excuse to throw my weakness on…to say I can't do it…but I can't keep just getting scared and choosing the easy path…I want to do it!"

Makarov looked thoughtful, seeing the look in her eyes, he knew that look…that fire…that existed in almost everyone in Fairy Tail "If you sure you're ready, I can't stop you" He told her "But we'll have to take some precautions. I will ask Porlyusica to be there just in case." As she nodded

"Also…" Lia started "For now, I don't want the others to know" She smiled "If they know they might get too worried instead of focusing on training"

Inside everyone were deciding where to go during those three months to train, Natsu, Lucy, Juvia, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Levy, Happy, Carla, Jet and Droy, had already decided to go to the beach and thus left to get their stuff ready so they can leave tomorrow.

Levy hade decided to go with them, after being rejected by Gajeel and Lily when she asked if she could go with them, those two had decided to go together on their own.

Lia made her way to the table with the thunder tribe and Laxus, she wanted to avoid Eiran for as long as possible, and the said guy was at the bar talking with Mira.

"So, what did you guys decide to do?" Lia asked them

"We're going together to train, now that the thunder tribe is complete" Freed told her

"Laxus says he knows a good spot that we can train in" Evergreen told her

"It's some abandoned ruins, I found while traveling" Laxus said as Lia nodded "What are you going to do?"

"I am staying here" She answered although her eyes seemed to find the table very interesting "I need the books at my house, so staying here is the best"

"That's called studying not training" Bickslow told her

"Same thing to me" She shrugged, Laxus was staring at her narrowed eyes, he had a feeling that there were more to it than that.

Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed had the same feeling, she was hiding something.

"Just pack what you need and come with us!" Evergreen argued with Lia, who gave her an apologetic look.

"That would be too much to carry" She said "You guys have fun there" She did turn with a mischievous look and a smirk "I wanted to ask about something though"

Evergreen raised her eyebrow "I got to ask Mira…" Lia started "What was that about you and Elf-" Lia was stopped as a Frantic Evergreen clamped a hand over Lia's mouth with a low hiss.

"It was trick!" Evergreen retorted to the confusion of the guys at the table "Don't you dare mention it again!"

Lia smirked, plan distraction was working. Although Evergreen was now the target of the questioning of Freed and Bickslow.

Lia managed teleported to the opposite side of the table so she was standing between Laxus and Freed. "She told Mira they were getting married" Evergreen was pale but the look she gave Lia would have scared a normal person into a stone statue…which meant Lia was prepared on a moment notice to look away.

"I feel sorry for the guy" Laxus said

"Then again they do fit each other in a strange way" Freed commented not helping the blushing woman.

"Ever and Elfman sitting in a tree" Bickslow sang as his dolls repeated behind him

"I will kill you!" Evergreen yelled as she started chasing Lia around the guild much to the surprise of everyone around.

The chase kept for a while as everyone was amused of how Lia kept managing to dodge in the small place and to the horror of Makarov when Evergreen started using her magic, that was when he interfered to make sure the guild hall kept standing.

Lia did get asked by Mira if she wanted to come with them to the mountain training with them, them being Mira, Lisanna, Elfman, Cana, Eiran, Raine and Sol, Lia had refused giving the same excuse she had said before. When Eiran heard, he narrowed his eyes at her and kept giving her looks, the same she had noticed Laxus was giving her, and she was sure Mira had the same thought as them although she was subtler, most of the people she talked with were aware she lying but they hadn't questioned her.

At least she wasn't questioned while everyone was around, when she decided to head for home near the afternoon, she found herself being followed by her over protective, and the main reason for wanting to hide it, Brother.

"So…" He started as he fell into step with her

"So…" She repeated not even turning to face him, as far as she knew, most of the people of the guild would be okay with her releasing her seal, even if they would be worried and might even have them wait a few days before leaving to train, just to see if she would be okay.

Eiran though, she knew, would completely refuse and wouldn't let her do it. Was she jumping to conclusions? Yes, she might be, but she would rather do it, than risk an argue with the possibility of her caving in... after all she was still afraid, even if she would never admit to it, she was and if Makarov had told her not to do it, she would have jumped at the opportunity, the same she way would jump at it with anyone else, someone her to back up her fear.

"Why are you staying in Magnolia?" Eiran asked her "We both know, that all the books you need is that notebook of yours"

He wasn't wrong, most of the time Lia had a few spells she wanted to learn lined up in details gathered by her in a few note books, anything she would want learn would already be studied and ready for training in it.

"It's better if I stay, I doubt I could get stronger as I am now" Lia told him as her hand unconsciously moved to the right side of her waist, it had left a scar, that reminded her how weak she is with that seal. "I would be better off working here on finding out why I can't do item enchantment"

"Lia…" He called slowly as he fought that horrible feeling in his gut "What are you-"

"You know, I think you should stop being afraid" She turned on him, even though she felt as a hypocrite "Your magic-"

"Stop!" He told her sharply in a hiss "You know I can't"

"I know you won't" Her eyes softened, it was sometimes easy to forget how he felt about his magic, with how good he hid it now, Lia wanted to help but she didn't know how. "You were just a kid, it's not the same." He shook his head.

"Don't try changing the subject" He told her sternly "I am here to talk about you not me"

She bit her lip looking away, while rubbing her left arm "I am not-"

"Just tell me the truth" He told her "no trying to change the subject and don't try to lie"

She sighed but she didn't dare meet his eyes "I am releasing the seal" She whispered as Eiran's eyes widened.

"No!" He yelled at her as some of the passersby spared them a glance before going on their way "On the island you would have died if it weren't for the protection of the tree!" his voice was toned down but still sharp "Do you even realize the risk?!"

"Yes, yes I do!" She replied "But…" she closed her eyes, remembering the fight on the island "But I could die any moment now and it would be still the same" She faced him "We both realized that after Tenroujima" She recalled a quote she had read "that's the thing about life. no one gets out alive."

"Doesn't mean you go rushing to it!" He replied but she stayed silent and he tusked at her look. "You know what, do what you want Lia!" He snapped as he stomped away from here as her eyes softened.

She knew this would happen and she didn't want to leave things like this for three months, but she also knew the only way to convince him was to come out alive.

She didn't even have to take a step away before she groaned as she realized who had been listening in, she was too focused on Eiran she missed him.

"I thought you were better at sensing than this?" He wondered as he came out of the alleyway.

"Hey Laxus, long time no see" She told him dryly "You realize its rude to listen in on people?"

"I just happened to pass by" He told her innocently as she deadpanned at him.

"So you're going to try and talk me out of it too?" She asked him after sighing

"No" He answered as Lia's eyes widened and she stared at him with shock "You have every right to do what you want; besides I think you won't die that easily"

Laxus though freaked out when he saw she had a few tears in her eyes "Hey why are you crying now?" Lia broke into a laugh at his expression as she wiped out her tear.

"what's with that look?" She laughed at him "Still haven't learned to deal with a crying girl?" He scowled as she laughed at him again. "Laxus" She called "Thank you"

"Eh?" He wondered "What are you thanking me for, idiot?"

"For actually thinking I can do it" She replied with a smile "Just after this three months I am going to surprise everyone!"

"Will look forward to it" He replied with a smirk, although there was a double meaning there, better see you in three months.

"I wonder if I can give you a run for your money" Lia winked, I will.

* * *

The next day came with Lia standing in the guild as everyone got ready to leave on their respective journey, although Natsu, Happy and Erza were late.

Lia knew Erza was late as she prepared her bags…as in an entire carriage filled with them, that made Lia wide eyed when she woke up this morning. The other two, she guessed, had overslept, which led to Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Gray and Juvia going to wake them up.

Her more immediate concern was the crystal mage who had been avoiding talking to her since morning. Not that she wasn't doing the same thing.

Gajeel hadn't even come to the guild this morning, he and Lily had left on their secret training without telling anyone.

Laxus's group were the first to leave before Natsu's group had even gathered, by the time they had, Eiran's group were ready to leave as well.

As everyone said their goodbyes, the tension between Lia and Eiran didn't go unnoticed by everyone, Makarov sighed as he figured that Eiran had probably found out what Lia was planning to do.

Once in a distance, Mira walked closer to Eiran "Are you sure it was okay to leave like that?"

"hmm?" Eiran mused

"She's going to manage it" Mira whispered to him as he turned to her with a questioning look "I had caught some of the stuff she was considering lately, I know she's going to break the seal"

"It's not exactly secret you two" Cana yelled from behind them with a bottle in her hand "It was pretty obvious"

"Huh?" Their companions looked at each other confused since they weren't sure what the three were talking about.

"If she wants me to not be angry she'd better apologize when we come back" Eiran said as he walked faster, Mira smiled as Cana shook her head at him.

"Did you and Eiran fight?" Erza asked Lia as they went inside to wait for the others

"Yeah" She answered as her shoulders dropped "He was being over protective again"

They were interrupted when the doors crashed open with Natsu and Happy leading the way before he was followed by the others, all of them out of breath.

"You're late" Erza said turning to them with narrowed eyes as they gulped, a few minutes later they had gathered their stuff and left.

Venus had left later going on her job, with Bisca, Alzack, Warren, Max, Macao, Wakaba, Nab Bijiter and Romeo the one's remaining in the guild, with Kinana handling the bar.

Makarov and Lia had gone to the east forest as they met with Porlyusica.

Lia walked forward as the other two hung back. "Can she even do it?" Porlyusica asked Makarov "Sophia was the only one capable of breaking the seal, right?"

"That's what I thought as well, but…" He said as he looked at Lia who had crouched on the ground placing her hand flat on the ground. "She had figured a way to do it…she had done It on Tenroujima, albeit she didn't go all the way"

"That reckless child" Porlyusica tusked

Lia took a breath, before channeling her magic to carve the magic circle on the ground, unlike the small one on Tenroujima this one was wide with Lia in the center.

The magic circle was two concentered circles with swirly lines forming a triangle in the inner circle, with a five-point star inside the triangle and four ancient letters one in each of the four directions between the two circles.

On the island, she had made the circle smaller to be more in control and back then she only needed to recover her magic, this time she was releasing it completely.

"Everything is ready" Lia declared

Makarov nodded as he looked at her, he thought about talking her out of it, but he couldn't hold her back like that, as dangerous as it was she needed to take this step.

Porlyusica didn't have that conservation. "Stupid girl, are you really ready to drive yourself to an early grave?!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" Lia replied with sarcasm as Porlyusica got irked at her

"Stupid humans!" Porlyusica yelled at her but was shocked as Lia smiled

"I am in your care, Porlyusica!" Lia told her on Tenroujima she had the islands protection, here she knew if anything does go wrong…well she didn't want to think about it.

Lia breathed before crouching again her hand on the ground, she channeled magic into the circle as it started glowing around her, she could feel the pull on her seal, as she felt its heat on her back, the same feeling when she had used too much magic.

"Release!" She commanded, the glow in the magic circle flare around her, as the seal on her back glowed, before it started moving down her arms, into the ground fading on contact with the circle. Lia was starting to feel the pressure from the extra magic power.

It only took a few minutes for the seal to completely disappear, the circle stopped glowing. "Don't" Lia said to the two, just as magic exploded from her covering her completely.

* * *

 **And there it is :D I start my final exams next week so time to hit the books, but I will be back in a month give or take a few days with *drum rolls* GMG arc Yay! If you liked this follow and favourite, and review what you think ^_^**


	29. Sky Labyrinth

**Year x782**

The streets were quiet, and the only light came from the full moon in the sky that night, it was midnight, so nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But the sound of running and ragged breathes, despite the best efforts to muffle them by the person, cut through the night's silence.

A large black cloak hid their features, and served as a cover, as they tried to stick to the shadows.

They eventually stopped in an alley between two buildings, leaning against the wall as they tried to take their breaths.

"You haven't eaten anything in weeks, you can't use magic, and when was the last time you got to even put that much effort into anything?" A teenager wondered as he walked calmly from another end of the alley, his features hidden by the shadows "And somehow you thought you run away?"

As the cloaked figure retreated her back hit something, she turned to find another guy standing there.

"Add to it, that we had to look for her at this damn hour!" The second man said annoyed

"I-I am no-ot going-g ba-ack" The cloaked person said in a hoarse voice, one that seemed feminine and it was obvious she hadn't used it in a while.

"And how are you going to go about doing that?" The first man wondered with a smirk, as the cloaked figure glared at him, he was the second person she hated the most. "Do you think Master would just let you get away?" and that Master was definitely her first most hated person.

"You-u sho-ou-uldn't-t und-derest-timate me" She told them as the first man noticed her hand on the wall, her bleeding bony fingers and the small circle draw on the wall.

"Stop her!" He yelled as he started running for her, but before even the man behind her could reach her, the explosion took place as it cut through the silence of the night.

* * *

 **Year x791**

The three months passed before they knew it, just as everyone came back, first were Mira's group, and second were Natsu's team. The said team all -but Erza- crashed on the path leading to the guild hall groaning.

"We're here!" Natsu said lying flat on the ground

"Why are all of you so exhausted?!" Macao asked as he walked up to them along with everyone that were at the guildhall

"Get a hold of yourselves!" Elfman told them. "That's what a man is!"

"Elfman! You sure bulked up!" Natsu noted standing up as he saw that now almost gigantic Elfman.

"We secluded ourselves in the mountains and trained there" Lisanna told him

"We pushed ourselves everyday" Raine told them

"Muscles are a Man's romantic adventure!" Elfman declared

"In these last three months, I became able to eat natto, my former most-hated food!" Bijiter said

"I conquered my fear of heights!" Warren announced

"I don't think that'll really come in handy…" Happy told them

"Our firing accuracy has got even better" Bisca announced as Alzack agreed

"I finished reading a 30-volume horror novel series" Nab said adding to the list of useless things.

"My sandstorm has become more powerful yet." Max told them "If we fight once more, I'll beat even Natsu!"

"Good job, everyone!" Makarov said as he joined them as Natsu greeted him happily "It looks like you've all done your best to prepare for the Grand Magic Games. For now, gather inside the guild."

Everyone gathered inside, all of them waiting to hear who would be on the team.

"Alright…" Makarov started as he stood in front of them "I'm going to announce the five members who will participate in the Grand Magic Games as our representatives" He studied each of their magic powers carefully , and was glad to find the ones he was considering to be on the team from before stronger "Natsu! Gray! Erza!" Everyone wasn't surprised those three were chosen, although Juvia had a concern of being separated from Gray "The remaining two…are Lucy and Wendy!" both who were shocked as Elfman broke into tears about not being chosen, as Juvia freaked out about being separated from Gray.

Even Lisanna and Raine were disappointed to not be chosen.

"I can't do this! You could choose Laxus or Eiran or Gajeel instead!" Wendy argued

"Well, after all, they haven't come back yet!" Makarov replied

"Weren't Eiran with you?" Gray asked Mira

"He left after two months" Mira answered "he said he had somethings to take care of"

Erza put her hand on Lucy's shoulder "Master based his decision on teamwork more than individual power." Erza told them "And since we were chosen, let's do our utmost." As the two girls calmed down and agreed

"To make a serious grab for the win, I really wanted to have Gildarts or Laxus or Eiran, I thought…" Makarov muttered with a crest fallen face, even though it was fake.

"But you're saying it!" Gray and Natsu shouted at him

"Everyone!" Erza called "These Grand Magic Games are the perfect chance for Fairy Tail to regain its reputation! We'll beat Sabertooth, the strongest guild in Fiore, and Fairy Tail will become the number one guild in Fiore!" Everyone cheered

"Master…Venus and Lia are on Communications Lacrima" Kinana told him as he went behind the bar to talk to the two.

"Where are those two?" Erza wondered

"They left on a job a few days ago" Bisca told them as Mira and Cana were glad Lia were alright enough to go on jobs, if she had went ahead with removing the seal.

"Alright, they just informed me, that the Fairy Tail team will be staying at an inn called Honeybone in Crocus" Makarov told them "Alright time for you to start heading there!"

As almost everyone left for Crocus, but Makarov, Mira and Juvia who still waited at the guild for the others to come back, both told by Makarov in secret. Laxus and the thunder tribe eventually came back followed by Gajeel and Lily.

Makarov had the thunder tribe go ahead to Crocus while Laxus stayed.

"You already picked the team?!" Gajeel yelled at Makarov "Damn it! Put me on the team!"

"Calm down! You were the late one!" Makarov told him "Besides we're still waiting for someone, then I have something to tell you"

"Who are we waiting for Master?" Mira asked just as someone teleported into the guild hall, right beside them.

"Sorry I am late!" Lia called as she started taking a breath, as she looked around "Hey!" She greeted them.

"Hey yourself!" Gajeel replied angrily and impatient.

Laxus and Mira almost instantly noticed the magic power flowing from her and were shocked at first, but snapped out of it.

"You could have just told them without me, it took a lot of effort to come back quickly" Lia told him as she caught her breath "Anyway, like we told you on the lacrima the two teams are registered" As Lia looked a bit sour remembering the guys at the counter when Her and Venus had registered the teams.

"Good job!" Makarov told her

Lia and Venus had both gone on a job and were asked by Makarov to go register the two teams, Makarov had told her on the Lacrima to come back while Venus had stayed in Crocus, Lia opted to teleport to save time on the way back.

Her hair was in a braid, and she was wearing an off shoulder long wide sleeved light blue top, along with knee length black pants and dark blue flats.

"So it worked!" Mira told the girl who looked at her with a grin, she had figure Mira probably caught what she had been looking into a few days before everyone left, and maybe even Cana who was almost always at the bar drinking. "I am glad you're okay!"

"Thanks Mira!" Lia replied as she accepted the hug from the white-haired girl

"What worked?" Juvia wondered but Makarov coughed grabbing their attention

"We don't have much time, we still need to get to Crocus" He told them "I want the five of you to enter the Grand Magic Games as Fairy Tail's B Team"

They were all but Lia shocked for that, Lia was shocked he had picked her before, when he first told her who to register on the teams.

"Gimme a break!" Gajeel shouted "who's gonna be part of that spectacle?!"

"I don't mind being in it, but I don't like being on 'B Team'" Laxus said

"Then let's do this." Makarov told them "The team that wins gets to do what they want with the other team for a whole day."

"Put another way, it's a 'punishment game' for the losing team." Lily said

This immediate got all of them interested as they imagined what they would do, Lia knew It was going to be a bad day for whoever lost, almost everyone in Fairy Tail had a sadistic side.

"Gramps, I still think Eiran would have been a better choice" Lia told him, they could sub under the reserve member rule after all.

"He's not back yet" Makarov answered "Team A is Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy and Wendy. And that leaves the five you to be best suited to be on Team B"

"I am in!" Gajeel agreed with a grin

"We'll win this!" Laxus added

"Yup" Mira said as Juvia kept fantasizing about Gray.

"I am still not sure I am the best choice" Lia said before Laxus patted her head

"You said you'll surprise everyone, right?" He told her

"You can definitely do it!" Gajeel said laughing

"You just need a fifth team mate for that bet" Lia told him with narrowed eyes before sighing "I guess I could do it"

Her eyes narrowed though when she sensed the people approaching from the back "Gramps, we have company!" She didn't recognize them, although one of them seemed familiar or more like similar.

"Excuse us!" The leading figure said as they walked into the guild where all six people and Exceed were wary, till Juvia saw them.

"Meldy, Jellal and Ultear?!" Juvia wondered

Everyone were immediately on guard ready to attack but seeing that Juvia stepped in front of them "They're not enemies" She told them franticly

"We apologize for our arrival without notice" Jellal said as he removed his hood

"You would better give us good reason for two Grimoire heart members being here" Laxus told them as Lightening play on his hand, they had heard about Meldy and Ultear from Juvia and Gray after all.

"Wait, they're former members, they changed" Juvia told them "We actually met up with them a week ago"

"You do remember what happened on Tenroujima right?" Gajeel yelled at her but was silenced by Makarov

"You have a reason to come here?" Makarov asked them as they nodded, they explained first what they have been doing for the seven years and the independent guild they started, Crime Sorciere, before going into the reason they came here.

"A strange magical force?" Mira questioned "But wouldn't that be expected with all the different guilds participating"

"This magic is evil and it reminds us of Zeref that's why we have been trying to find its source" Ultear told them

"We think that we're able to sense it because we've gotten too close to Zeref in the past." Jellal said

"If it's like you say I might sense it" Lia said

"You haven't gotten close to a magic like Zeref before, right?" Laxus told her as she shook her head, before looking at Meldy and Ultear.

"I think facing the magic used by Hades would count as sensing it before" Lia said as they nodded.

"So you came here to get the help of more people?" Juvia asked them

"No" Jellal answered "We actually figured a better way" He turned to look towards Makarov before bowing "If you allow it I would like to pose as Mystogan to get closer to the arena where the games are held"

* * *

They eventually made their way to Crocus and met with Venus the only person other than Makarov to know they were in the games, as per Makarov's instructions, they would keep the fact about them being the second Fairy Tail team a secret for now, which why almost all of them decided to avoid the main group team, with the exception of Juvia, who left them immediately to find Gray.

"Just remember to get back to the inn before midnight" Lia yelled after the girl, since she was the one who had read the rules. "we're staying at Obsidian Cabin!"

She turned around to face Gajeel before he ran off too

"I don't think I ever saw Lia this uptight about rules" Mira stated as they watched the exchange between Lia and Gajeel, with the latter being annoyed.

"She doesn't want you guys to get disqualified especially after those _guys_ acted" Venus told them

"Guys?" Laxus wondered

"The one on the games committee we had to deal with to register the teams, they kept making fun of the guild when we knew we were registering, more over that we were registering two teams" Venus explained "I am used to it, but…"

"You shouldn't be even used to it!" Lia told her as she rejoined them with Gajeel and Lily now gone "Those guys were jerks, and we're going to show them!"

"Does she always lose control like this?" Jellal dressed as Mystogan wondered

"No" Laxus answered "You might want to calm down" Laxus told her as the four watched her with a sweat drop. Her magic was seeping around her.

"I guess she still not used to control her magic when she's mad?" Mira said

"Yeah" Venus told her

Lia took a breath and calmed herself down.

"Any way, I have someone I need to find, later!" Venus told them with a wave before she disappeared

"I am going to take a look around" Jellal told them as he left as well

"I am going to go find Lisanna and Elfman too" Mira said as she left too leaving only Lia and Laxus

"Are you tense because of those guys? Or was it what they told us about the strange magic?" Laxus asked her as she blinked

"Those guys pissed me off, but they're not the only reason, and it's not just the magic either" Lia answered sighing, she had a more immediate reason to be tense and from Laxus's look he was waiting for her to give that reason "I am not completely used to this much magic yet. I am better at it, at least I can move freely now, but it's still hard. That's why I am surprised Gramps chose me." She sighed "Never mind it though, just need time I guess. So, what do you want to do?"

Laxus was worried about her, being exposed to a huge amount of magic was one way that magic was weaponized, but other than the fact she was tense she seemed fine, which meant she was probably hiding how she actually felt.

"Nothing in particular" He replied as she grinned and started pulling him

"Sightseeing it is" She stated as they started walking around the capital enjoying the place, although the place lived up to its name of being the blooming capital.

Lia did end up getting a flower crown, Laxus gave her a blank look when she suggested a flower necklace and they stopped for ice cream.

Laxus wasn't surprised when Lia ended up stopping at a bookstore and a Fabric shop at some point. Even passing a store with the music equipment including the headphones Laxus liked.

For an outside point of view it would seem like those two were on a date, for those two they were oblivious.

Meanwhile, "Gray!" Juvia called as she stopped beside the ice mage

"Juvia! What are you doing here?!" He asked her

"It's not only Juvia!" She told him "Everyone in the guild came to cheer you on."

"Jeez. Those guys have too much free time…" Gray said

"Um…Would you like to have dinner together?" Juvia asked him

"Now that you mention it, I am hungry." Gray said

Behind one of the buildings were mages watching the two. "Why are we hiding again?" Lyon asked Venus who giggled as she watched the two.

"Because you'll probably do something stupid to ruin Juvia's attempt at asking Gray or you might end up challenging him to some competition and we're still not done gift hunting" She told him as he sweat dropped

Anise who had stayed behind at the guild to take care of it on Obaba's order, which Venus found as the perfect opportunity for Lyon to find a gift for their wedding anniversary that was coming up soon.

"But…" Lyon tried as Venus turned to him with a glare.

"No buts! Any of those rivalry stuff can wait for the games!" She told him warningly, as he nodded nervously feeling the murderous aura from her.

* * *

Laxus and Lia eventually made it back to the inn with one hour to spare, Mira was already waiting for them there, as she gave them a too happy smile, that had given Lia the feeling she always gets off Mira, she knows more than she said.

The room itself was pretty plain, six beds placed with a wardrobe, a side table and one bathroom.

Gajeel and Lily arrived with a half hour to spare, Juvia though came with only five minutes to midnight.

"You were out with Gray, weren't you?" Lia said as she noticed the happy look and blushing face of the water mage

"Yeah" She told them happily.

"So what now?" Gajeel wondered

"We wait for midnight" Mira said

"Are you sure it doesn't say anything about what happens at midnight in the rules?" Laxus asked as Lia shook her head.

"I even asked the others, they said this rule didn't exist before this year" Lia answered

"Strange" Juvia said

"I agree it is strange" Lily said

The clock struck midnight as they waited to see what would happen.

"Everyone in the guilds who have gathered together for the Grand Magic Games…Good morning!" A voice boomed from outside which had the six of them heading out into the balcony

"Is that a pumpkin?" Gajeel wondered as they stared at the hologram of a man wearing a pumpkin head. Lia though was irked as she was reminded of Eiran's favorite tease.

"Beginning now, we're going to take 113 participating teams and have an elimination round to pare them down to eight!" He announced

"That's more guilds than there are in Fiore" Mira noted

"Looks like Fairy Tail wasn't the only guild to notice the two teams rule" Lia said

"An elimination round was probably done because of that rule" Laxus said

"Gehe, sounds like fun" Gajeel said

"I hope Gray makes it" Juvia said

"Shouldn't you be more worried about us?" Laxus asked her but was ignored by the girl.

"Every year, the number of Participating guilds increases and it was pointed out that the events were getting stale." The hologram sang while dancing "This year, there will be only eight teams competing in the official games. The elimination rules are simple!"

The inn they were in started shaking and rising as they held into the railings, they could see it happening to different inns around Crocus. Laxus and Gajeel both grimaced as their stomachs churned for a moment, except the latter didn't even realize why since it didn't last long.

"It's transforming?!" Mira questioned

"And it's happening to the other inns as well." Juvia noted

"What's going to happen?" Lily wondered

"All of you are going to race each other. The goal is the games arena, Domus Flau. The first teams to arrive will go on." He announced just as paths started appearing from the balcony leading to a flying huge structure in the air "You're free to use your magic. There are no restrictions. But remember, only the first eight teams to get to the goal will survive this round. However, all five members must arrive together or it doesn't count! And one more thing! We take no responsibility for any lives lost in labyrinth." They all looked at the giant structure hovering in the sky "The Grand Magic Games elimination round! Sky Labyrinth…begin!"

"Let's go! We need to arrive before Salamander and his team" Gajeel stated as he ran up the path not even giving them a chance

"I will go join the others" Lily told them

"Oi, Gajeel, wait!" Lia called as they followed him.

"He's right though it's a race, so we need to hurry" Laxus said

"But if it's a Labyrinth, how are we going to find our way inside?" Mira wondered

"Shouldn't we head east the arena is in that direction?" Juvia wondered

"No if it's a maze, heading east could just lead us to dead ends or keeps us going in circles, its too obvious" Mira replied as Lia grinned

"Leave it to me we just need to reach the inside" Lia told them "I will get us to the arena easily"

"What do you have planned?" Laxus asked her as she winked

"You'll see" She replied with a wink "It's time for me to show off!"

Once inside they were surprised at the scenery, "A three-dimensional maze" Mira noted

"Not just that, it's enchanted" Lia told them as she sensed the magic, people could probably walk against gravity, and people with motion sickness and fear of heights wouldn't be affected" She smirked "They're not strong enchantments but they get the job done"

"I'll explain!" A screen appeared in front of them showing the man from the hologram earlier

"Looks like they're listening in too" Juvia said

"For the elimination round, this entire Sky Labyrinth has been treated with magic so even those with motion sickness or fear of heights can compete fairly!" He said as the screen disappeared

"So salamander isn't puking his guts right now?" Gajeel said as Lia snuck a quick at Laxus

"Lucky for Natsu" Mira said

"So what's your plan?" Gajeel asked Lia who turned regarding her surrounding

"Just give me a moment" She replied as she closed her eye with her hands open in front of her. "Rebatur Modo!"

Just as she said the words a magic circle with a glowing reddish sphere on top of it formed on her hand, I was the size of a soccer ball and slowly it started to construct itself with different passages and pathways in it, it took a few minutes but Lia eventually opened her eyes and smiled happy with her work.

"A map?" Laxus asked her as she nodded

"And this is the way we need to take" She pointed at the sphere as a glowing line started going through the maze

"So we need to reach somewhere in the center than its straight forward?" Mira asked her as she nodded

"So what are we waiting for?" Gajeel asked as he punched his hand "Let's go win this!"

On the ground, while most people watched the labyrinth and cheered, Fairy Tail were busy.

"Wendy isn't with them?!" Romeo wondered as Lisanna finished informing them

"Isn't with them…you mean she's missing?" Nab asked

"It's not like her" Raine said worried as Sol agreed

"Carla isn't there either!" Happy said

"But the rule is there has to be five people!" Romeo said "So Natsu and the rest will…"

"Elfman suddenly filled in for her." Lisanna told them

"Elfman in the elimination round?!" Nab wondered

"Seriously?! If I'd been there, maybe I would've been able to in the elimination round, too!" Romeo said frustrated

"You're missing the point here…" Sol said as he sweat dropped at his best friend's antics.

"The point is, we have to look for those two!" Lisanna said "So spread the word. If we split up into teams and stay in contact through Warren…"

"Even so, this I a huge city…" Happy said as he flew

"Ullr and I, if I use my transformation rune, can try and track her by smell" Raine said "And I have another spirit that can help spread the word quickly to the others."

"Got it!" Romeo added "I just hope they haven't gotten caught up in some kind of trouble…"

Raine pulled out an orb and a silver, small square plate with a rune engraved on it "Bearer of the rune of Eihwaz, Bearer of the rune of Ansuz, Ullr! Eostre! I summon thee!" Raine casted and two runes glowed before the spirits appeared in front of them.

Eostre was immediately beside Raine as she grabbed the girl, hugging her while pressing her face against Raine's, and having to bend to do so.

"How is my little bitty, Rainy doing?!" Eostre asked her in childish voice

Eostre was a beautiful female spirit, long brown hair split in the middle with a flower crown on top of her head, a frilly yellow and green dress that hugged her curvaceous body and stopped at her knees, with two flower rings at her ankles and no shoes.

"Eostre!" Ullr called irked "Let go of _My_ little Raine!" As he hugged Raine from the other side with the two spirits glaring at each other and Raine stuck in the middle crying, Happy was holding back his laughter.

"Come on you two this is serious!" Raine yelled frustrated

In the maze, Fairy Tail team B were following the map and easily avoiding the other guilds, and barely facing any obstacle, things were going fine till the maze suddenly started rotating

"What the?!" Juvia shouted as they fell

"Raine…" Sol called her attention to the rotating maze, as he ran beside her while she was in her fox form.

"I hope they're okay…" Raine said

"Raine! Everyone in the guild on the ground have been informed!" A canary bird told her as it flew beside her "Ullr says he caught her scent in a few places, but she wasn't there, that girl moved a lot today!"

"Alright, thanks, Eostre!" Raine told her

Mira changed into her Satan soul and caught Juvia, Lia used her gravity spell to stop both her and Laxus from falling, as Gajeel had used his hand turned into a hook to grip into the platform.

"Why would they do something like that?" Mira wondered as they all gathered into a platform

"Looks like they don't want to be up all night" Lia said

"They want to narrow the teams as fast as possible" Laxus said

"Lots of teams just fell off" Gajeel said as he looked over the edge

"Now I have to make the map all over again" Lia sighed as she recited the spell and the map readjusted to the change "At least we're not that far off"

* * *

"Max! Venus! Did you find out anything?!" Alzack asked as they ran towards him and Warren

"No. There's the lateness of the hour for one thing, and no relevant info at all out there…" Max said

"It's not like Wendy…especially with the games going on" Venus commented

"Where the heck did you go, Wendy?!" Warren wondered

"We need to hurry up and find her so Natsu and the rest can focus on the elimination round." Max commented

"I just hoped she's alright…" Venus commented

Warren contacted Lisanna and the rest "Well, Warren?" Lisanna asked

"We're coming up clueless." Warren answered

"Ullr, Sol and I have been to most of the places where she probably were during the day" Raine said "The only place left is the palace…we're heading there right now!"

"Now that you mention it…Carla said she was going to sightseeing spots with Wendy…" Happy said

"Alright meet us at the palace" Raine told them

"Alright" Lisanna answered as did Warren

Laxus and the others, eventually made it to the center of the labyrinth, where they actually stood on a road on the sky while an entire landscape was above them.

"So what now?" Gajeel asked

"We need to go there" Lia pointed upwards "I can use my gravity spell" Before she could though the place started rotating again and they fell into the landscape.

They all landed on their feet on the ground one way or another. "So that was what the rotation was actually for" Mira noted

"If it is, then we'll probably take second place" Laxus noted considering they only experienced one rotation

"Could it be Gray took first?" Juvia wondered

"I doubt it" Gajeel told her making her pout

"This way" Lia told them as she led the way

They eventually changed from a land path to one going over a sea. They noted that the sky was starting to appear as painted on a wall.

"We're close" Gajeel said as he hurried even more and Lia let the map finally fade away.

They made it to the end door with Goal glowing sign above it, and waiting for them was the man from the hologram clapping for them.

"Gajeel Redfox! Juvia Lockser! Laxus Dreyar! Lia Sephiran! Mirajane Strauss! Congratulations! You passed the elimination round!" He told them

"So who took first place?" Gajeel asked him

"So you figured out you were second?! You will know who else made it tomorrow in the opening ceremony!" He told them

"This event sure does love surprises" Lia stated as Juvia agreed

* * *

"They were attacked?!" Lia was shocked as Venus and Lily told them what happened to Wendy after they had made it back to the inn since they were done, they had to wait a good while till the elimination round was concluded, right before they went to sleep though Venus and Lily, came to tell them what happened.

"Lisanna, Raine, Sol and Happy took Carla and Wendy to the infirmary, they don't look injured but they are exhausted and have been unconscious, Porlyusica came to look after them though, she said it was magic deficiency syndrome. " Venus told them

"Elfman had to take her place as fifth member" Lily told them "When she was late, and everyone else started to look for her"

"Master asked us to check on you and tell you to be careful" Venus said "A guild is probably playing dirty"

"Still to attack the smallest member in the team" Laxus said angrily

"We can't be sure whoever did is even still in the games" Lia added

"If they are, they picked the wrong people to mess with!" Gajeel stated

"I hope Porlyusica can help her" Mira said

"She's okay now, just be careful" Venus told them "And congratulations on taking Second Place!"

"About that do you know how did the other team do?" Juvia asked

"They ranked eighth" Venus told them as Gajeel laughed

"That bet is as good as ours!" Gajeel roared "They barely made it!"

"8 of 113 isn't bad you know" Lia said as Juvia agreed

"But still…If we didn't have two teams in this Fairy Tail would have been just a hair away from being eliminated" Laxus said

"I can't wait to see the look on salamander's face" Gajeel said as he broke into another laughing fit

"We should all go to sleep, the real thing starts tomorrow after all" Mira told them as they agreed, they had been up since early morning and it was near two in the morning and they were definitely exhausted.

* * *

 **I'm back! did you miss me? :D hope you liked the new chapter, the GMG finally starts, if you liked it leave a review and favourite and follow ^_^**

 **Also I have been thinking about doing an extra something in the author note, every chapter I am gonna say some info about the this fic, maybe stuff that was gonna happen but didn't and the such.**

 **so Fact #1: In the first draft, Venus didn't exist. :o not even for the Azure Roses arc, but while editing she sprang to life in my head, and after the arc was done I liked her so much that I had to bring her to Fairy Tail with them :v**

 **In fact during the Edolas arc, Lia wasn't gonna face and evil version of Venus, she was gonna be stopping Eiran's evil self.**

 **I know I haven't really given her chance at the spotlight, but it will come. so what do you think of Venus? :D**


	30. GMG: Day one!

**Sooo, I have been gone for a while, which is not my fault my laptop broke, so I didn't have anything to write on, but finally manged to get my old pc up and running so enjoy the new chapter, which is extra long! :D Don't forget to review if you like it ^_^**

* * *

 _Pain. It was all she felt as the magic surrounded her. Her screams filled the room around her as the light from the magic, which was passing through her body, blinded her._

 _She dropped to the ground on her knees, when the magic finally stopped, but the pain didn't, the seal on her back burned._

 _Her eyes were focused on the ground as she bit her lips, when boots came into view. She looked up to glare at the man, his face was a blur though, then again everything was almost a blur now._

 _The man spoke, or rather his mouth moved since she didn't hear the words coming from his mouth, but then her mouth gave him a one word reply and an ever more intensified glare._

 _As he turned and walked away, someone else pulled her to her feet and started forcing her to walk away._

* * *

Lia walked out of the bathroom refreshed, and wearing a spaghetti strap deep V neck halter black top with scarlet rose embroidery on the right lower front, black sleeves starting from mid-upper arm and ending at her wrist with red linings in them, black long pants and black ankle length boots. Her hair was gathered in a high ponytail with a red ribbon.

Other than Mira all her other teammates were still asleep, considering that it was still six in the morning. Mira being used to waking up early to open the guild hall, and Lia after having that dream, which was like the dreams she's been having for the last three months.

"You need help waking those three?" Lia asked her as Mira shook her head

"Just say hi to Wendy for use" Mira replied as Lia waved to her with a nod.

When she had woken early, she decided to check on the little dragon slayer for her team, while Mira had told her she would stay to make sure their team got ready and that they would meet in the stadium.

Even this early people were already awake, and opening shops as the excitement buzz for the games filled the air.

Lia though walked the streets lost in her own world, as she drifted to the dreams she's been having lately, she couldn't make a lot out of them. One thing she was sure of is they were probably memories from the missing four years.

She was too lost in thought that she didn't even notice that she was about to hit someone till she was too late.

"Sorry" She said hurriedly as she backed away before she heard the chuckle and recognized the person standing there.

"We gotta stop meeting like that" Xenos told her playfully

"Xenos" Lia noted as she shook her head smiling "What are you doing here?"

"Wouldn't want to miss the games, you?" He asked her

"Fairy Tail is in the games" She answered omitting the part where she's on the team. "Which reminds me, I need to get going"

"It's still early though" He told her

"things to do before it starts" She replied as she waved and walked away "See you later"

"Later" She heard his reply as she tried to walk away as casually as possible, unlike the first time she met him, this time he gave her goose bumps, and not the good kind. And with her focused sensing she noted something, he was hiding his magic, or something was, and she didn't like it.

She eventually made it to the infirmary in the stadium. As expected, Porlyusica was already awake, and working on some concussion to the side of the room.

"Good morning!" She greeted the woman who grunted in acknowledgment "How are they?" Lia asked as she walked towards the sleeping Wendy and Carla.

"They just need to rest for now" Porlyusica replied.

"Their magic recovery still has ways to go…" Lia noted sensing the still low magic of the little girl.

"Not everyone has your recovery speed so it's to be expected" Porlyusica replied, Lia's magic recovery speed has been always fairly advance than most people, thanks to all the time she spent meditating.

"I think I have something to help" Lia said as Porlyusica gave her a look "I know it's harmful to force magic recovery too fast! This is something I have been working on, it should ease her body to let it recover faster but still at spaced intervals to insure safety!"

Lia had decided on this spell's idea after facing Ruosir back then, but she had found out back then like most spells it was well out of her magical capabilities with seal on.

Lia held Wendy's hand between her own. "Body enchant: Spissus Rejuvenate!" Wendy's body's glowed a soft glow before it faded, then she did the same to Carla. "There this should do!"

"I almost thought after your stunt in the forest, that you would completely focus on fighting spells" Porlyusica remarked as Lia grinned in return, as she scratched her cheek.

"One more clearing never hurt anybody, besides support magic is something only a few can do, I am not giving it up ever!" Lia told her "also that spell is now where near ready to be used in the midst of battle"

"Like that ever stopped you, stupid human" Porlyusica replied as she walked towards Lia who stood nervously as the woman held her from the shin and took a look at her face "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"It's probably just because of last night's game" Lia answered "I will get enough sleep tonight"

"Lia…" She stared at her warningly as she let go of her shin

"It's fine, really" Lia chuckled "It's not because of the magic release" which was something they were still on the watch for, "the game last night was just really late and couldn't oversleep because the actual games start today" as she walked towards the door "Speaking of, I should get going, I will try and come visit after the games today"

With that she pulled her second escape for the day. She sighed as she walked through the halls, heading for her teams magic signature that she sensed entering the arena a few minutes ago.

She hasn't been sleeping that badly, the dreams weren't daily, but when she did have them, they usually left her shaken for the day, and lucky her, they chose today of all days. She would have to pull through though.

Lia could sense the people filling the arena as she entered the changing room where her team were.

"You're late!" Gajeel told her

"Am not" She replied "I was up before you"

"So how was Wendy? And Carla?" Mira interrupted

"Sleeping but fine, just need to rest and recover her magic" Lia answered as they stopped hearing the cheers and the loud sounds from outside.

Outside fireworks, balloons and crowds loud cheered filled the air, as people gathered in Domus Flau to watch the Grand Magic Games.

"Alright, it's that time of year! The annual magic festival…The Grand Magic Games!" The announcer said as cheerleader were down in the field, and the people's cheers grew louder.

"People are really excited for this!" Juvia said as they heard the cheers

"Of course, they don't get many chances to see mages in a fight this close" Lia told her

"It is a show" Laxus agreed

They stopped again as the announcing started.

"Alright, in just a moment, the curtain will rise on the Grand Magic Games. I'm your emcee, Chapati Rola" He announced "and next to me is former council member, Mr. Yajima, who will provide the commentary. I look forward to working together."

"Likewise." The old man replied

"And I'd like to introduce our guest for day one, the current Miss Fiore, Blue Pegasus's Jenny Rearlight!" Chapati introduced

"We're gonna win this year!" Jenny declared

"Okay, the players are about to take the field!" Chapati announced "Starting with eighth-ranked team! Can they recapture their past glory?! The group whose names clashes with their rowdiness! Fairy Tail!"

As Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray and Elfman walked into the arena instead of cheering they received booing from the crowd.

"But they're booing for Gray's team!" Juvia stated furious since they could hear it all the way from here

"We are the bottom ranked guild right now" Mira said

"Probably didn't help they placed last" Laxus said as Lia hit his side

"Be nice, they did place eighth from 113 teams" Lia said

"Fairy Tail has come in last place every year, but they survived the elimination round, though even in that, they were eight place." Chapati announced "Will the Tenrou bunch that created a sensation with their homecoming now become Fiore's number one?!"

"I'm just glad they're back." Yajima said "Congratulations, Fairy Tail."

"Let's start cheerin' 'em on!" Makarov instructed as he led Fairy Tail members gathered in the crowd "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray, Fairy Tail!"

Unknown to Fairy Tail B team, after the Fairy Tail members in the crowd rose with cheering for their comrades they had quieted down upon noticing the first master sitting among them cheering.

"Alright! Let's move on with the team that finished seventh, the hounds of hell, Quatro Cerberus!" Chapati announced "In sixth place, the all-female guild, the dancing girls of the great deep, Mermaid Heel!"

"I never heard of that guild!" Happy said as the rest of the guys watched with hearts in their eyes

"I am pretty sure I mentioned them" Venus said as she watched the looks on her guild's male members with distaste.

"In fifth place are the bright blue wings in pitch dark, Blue Pegasus!" Chapati continued "Continuing with fourth place! The goddess of love and war, the holy destroyer, Lamia Scale!"

"Let's go" Laxus said as they all got ready and left the room just as the third placed guild was announced

"Next up, finishing third in the elimination round…" Chapati started "Oh, my! This comes as a surprise! The first appearance of a guild, and in third place! The midnight mobile force, Raven Tail!"

"What?!" Lia was shocked as well as Laxus, Mira and Gajeel, Juvia knew they were a dark a guild, she didn't know that their master was Makarov's son.

Laxus's hand clenched was the only sign of anger he showed, since now just near the way leading to the arena they heard as Makarov growled about them being a dark guild.

"According to the official record, Raven Tail has been around for more than seven years, but they've only recently been recognized as a legitimate guild." Chapati announced

"Recognized by the Guild Federation, and not as a Dark Guild, right?" Yajima said

"Alright, there are still two more teams that made it through the elimination round!" Chapati started

"That's right. There are still two more…" Happy said looking at Macao

"One must be Sabertooth, right? And the other…" Macao said

"The main guilds are already out here…" Lisanna said

"Maybe a small guild managed to make it?" Raine wondered

"I guess you can call them small right now" Venus said mysteriously

In The hallway…

"Say, Laxus.." Lia called with a smirk "Let's make a shocking entrance to show them we mean business!"

He smirked back.

"The second-place finisher…oh, this is a shocker!" Chapati started "Will they become the soaring key with tattered wings?" They walked forward into the arena with Lia using her magic for flying fairy shaped magic balls flying around them, "The unbelievable, improbable…" Laxus used his magic to form the Fairy Tail mark in front of them from lightning, while Lia's fairy shaped magic balls formed the guilds name "…Fairy Tail B Team!"

"Mira?!" Elfman said shocked

"Gajeel?!" Natsu shocked as well

"Juvia?!" Gray said

"Isn't it against the rules for Laxus to be on the team?!" Lucy questioned

"Lia?!" Erza was surprised to see her more to sense the amount of magic coming from her.

All the teams were surprised to see two Fairy Tail teams had made it, while Raven Tail were more focused on three particular people in the new team, Laxus, Lia and Gajeel.

"Why does Fairy Tail get two teams?!" One from Quartos Cerberus questioned "That's too wild!"

"Well, it looks like a lot of people are up in arms over a revision of the rules this time Mr. Yajima." Chapati said

"For this tournament, each guild can have one team, which is nice, but they can also have two teams participating." Yajima said.

"I didn't hear anything about that, Master!" Lucy called as Makarov laughed

"You see that?! That's Fairy Tail!" Makarov shouted

"The final round will be a battle between all of the teams, but will members of the same guild be able to fight each other?" Chapati wondered

"I don't think they'd have a problem with it…" Yajima said knowing all too well that was exactly what Fairy Tail did on a daily basis.

"But it's not really fair, is it?" Jenny asked "For example, if one member from each team competes in an event, it's like only Fairy Tail gets to fight as a pair, right?"

"You're saying that out of over 100 teams, the two winning Fairy Tail teams have an advantage, yes?" Chapati asked

"That is an advantage to them" Yajima said

"I see! That's how there were so many teams participating." Lucy noted

"Venus and I researched the games during the first month and found out about the revision of the rules, Gramps jumped at the opportunity" Lia told them

"Gimme a break!" Natsu yelled at them "We may be in the same guild, but I go all out in a showdown and show no mercy! You guys are competing as another team, so you're the enemy! I ain't gonna lose against you bastards!"

And they were bound to get more fired up when they find out about the bet, Lia thought nervously.

"You took the words right out of my mouth…eighth place team member." Gajeel told him

Erza walked towards Lia.

"Lia, so you managed to break the seal?" Erza asked as Lia nodded

"By the way, Erza you might want to check the crowds carefully" Lia told her winking and pointing in a certain direction as the red head turned to look.

"Mystogan?!" Erza questioned

"Guess again!" Lia replied

"Wait…Jellal?!" Erza was shocked

"He showed up at the guild, and asked the master if he could pose as Mystogan to investigate the strange magic" Laxus said as he joined them

"He said he couldn't come near the venue" Erza noted annoyed

"Well without this disguise he can't, since not many people know what happened to the real Mystogan, so…" Lia told her

"Oh, don't get so huffy about it." Laxus told her

"As long as nothing draws attention to him, it should be fine" Lia agreed

"So have you noticed anything about this strange magic?" Erza asked them as Lia noted

"Although it's very very faint, and coming from somewhere underground but not from under the arena. It just has traces over here" Lia noted "I probably would have missed it, if I weren't looking for it."

"Underground?! I almost thought Raven Tail had something to do with it!" Erza told her before she had a dark look "They were the ones that attacked Wendy!"

"Even though…it's their first appearance, Jellal said they have been sensing it for a few years now" Lia stated as she turned to glare at the said group wondering how far they were willing to go if they had no qualms about hurting a little girl. Before looking at Laxus who stared at them quietly.

"Alright, we've just got one more team left to introduce!" Chapati started again as the crowds rose in cheers "That's right, you know who it is! They're the strongest, invincible, indisputable champions! Sabertooth!"

They watched the five members walk into the field.

Lia sensed their magic easily, noting the two dragon slayers, a celestial mage, the largest guy she couldn't pinpoint his magic exactly but he definitely used something with lightning, the one that gripped her attention was the masked guy, his magic felt similar to hers but was still different.

"And now, all of the teams are here, but what are your impressions, Mr. Yajima?" Chapati asked

"I envy their youth!" Yajima replied

"That's not really what I meant…" Chapati told him "Okay, everyone, you've waited long enough. I'm going to announce the program of the Grand Magic Games!" just as he said that a stone wall rose from the ground showing the 7 days, with the first four days being separated between a mystery and battle and only the first day showing hidden

"Starting with the competition, points will be divided among the teams, according to their ranking, from first to eighth. Now for the competition part, each team can select one of their members to take part.

And for the battle part, the results of fan votes will be taken into consideration when sponsors make the pairings." Chapati explained "The rules for the battle part are simple. As you can see, the teams face off against each other, with the winning team receiving ten points and the losing team getting Zero points. In the case of a tie, both teams will receive five points. And now, the Grand Magic Game's opening game! Let's begin 'Hidden'! One person from each team will compete. I'll explain the rules of the game after all of the players are on the field."

"Like I said, they love surprises" Lia said sighing

"Yeah, but whoever we choose may end up getting chosen for the battle part and they'll be exhausted" Mira said

"And also there's the game itself to consider" Laxus said as the other teams started choosing their members

"The first person to step up is Quatro Cerberus's Yeager!" Chapati announced "From Mermaid Heel, Beth Vanderwood!

From Raven Tail, Nalpudding! Eve has been called out! From Blue Pegasus, Eve Tilm!"

"So Eve is going first?!" Venus noted from where she stood with the rest of the guild

"All eyes are on Sabertooth, and they go with the minstrel who sings to the red moon! Rufus is here!" Chapati continued, it didn't go unnoticed by her team when Lia turned to watch him with a thoughtful expression, his magic had her curios, and her curiosity was going to be satisfied first thing

"You're not falling for the guy?!" Gajeel asked her as she blushed, she had been watching the guy as all girls in the crowds started squealing over when he was announced

"Of course not!" She yelled at him red in the face

"From Lamia Scale, Lyon Vastia!" Chapati announced "From Fairy Tail A team, Gray Fullbuster!" This of course led to Juvia saying she would join in.

"If Gray is going to be in it, then so is Juvia!" Juvia stated

"Hey! If you lose on purpose, there'll be hell to pay!" Gajeel warned her

"Just remember the bet in case we win" Lia reminded her

"From Fairy Tail B team, Juvia Lockser! All of the participating players from the eight teams are set! And now for the rules of the opening game, 'Hidden'!" Chapati announced

The members participating in the game gathered at the man wearing the pumpkin head. As the game began a town appeared out of thin air in the arena.

"That's some serious magic!" Lia stated as she stood with her team in their specified balcony. She could also feel the strange magic growing stronger for a second there.

As the screens appeared they could see all the members were separated. "Everyone, please enjoy what's going on in town via Lacrima Vision." Chapati said "The eight participants don't know what the others are doing. The rules of 'Hidden' are simple. Each person is both hider and seeker! Find each other in this town! You can use any kind of magic. Then deliver one blow! It doesn't matter if you do any damage. The person who attacks gets one point."

At that moment copied of everyone appeared in the town.

"Maybe you should have gone instead of Juvia" Laxus told Lia as they watched the game between her sensing, her Rebatur Modo and her teleportation she was perfect for this game.

"Let's trust in Juvia" Mira told them as Lia agreed

"She won't lose, just for the chance to spend the day with Gray" Lia said

"These are copies of everyone. If you accidentally attack a copy, you lose one point! Now, disappear into the silence! Like a black cat lurking in the dark night!" Chapati said "Let 'Hidden' begin!"

They watched just as Juvia jumped at a Gray copy immediately losing one point and getting teleported away.

"Oh, my! Juvia attacked a copy and lost one point!" Chapati commented "In this situation, the player restarts ten seconds later in a different area. Likewise, if the player is attacked by another wizard, a point is subtracted then too, and the player restarts in a different area ten seconds later."

"That idiot…" Gajeel said

"This may be a disadvantage to Juvia…" Mira said

"If I knew it'd be like this, I would've done it." Laxus stated

"Gray just had to volunteer for this one" Lia said face palming.

"As long as it's within the time limit, it's possible for the players to restart any number of times. The time limit is 30 minutes and the team that has the most points at the end will be in first place." Chapati announced

They watched on as Gray lost a point from attacking a clone of Raven Tail's Nalpudding before Nalpudding came after Gray again, it was clear by now that Nalpudding was targeting Gray and kept going after him.

Gray almost got hit by Beth who missed and got hit by Yeager, who in turn got hit by Lyon. Juvia jumped from the top of a building and hit Lyon.

"Juvia is going to beat you." Juvia told Gray "Juvia promised Master!"

"You promised Gramps?" Gray questioned as Juvia told him about how Makarov had convinced them to be B team using the punishment game.

"Looks like the cat is out of the bag" Lia said laughing nervously.

"Quit screwin' around!" Gray yelled as Juvia blushed "Hey, Gramps! I didn't hear anything about this! That local rule applies to us too, doesn't it?!"

"So Juvia isn't going to lose!" She told him but both got attacked by Nalpudding, before it started snowing.

Eve using his snow identified and hit Beth, Yeager and Nalpudding in a row, before getting hit by Lyon.

"Poor Eve" Venus commented

The game kept going as everyone fought but Nalpudding kept going after Gray.

When Chapati noticed that Sabertooth's Rufus hadn't made any move, although he was immediately noticed standing in plain sight at the highest point in town.

"This competition is too simple." He said "I remember it…Everyone's heartbeat, footsteps, the quality of their magic…I remember…I remember it. Memory Make…" He said as a magic circle appeared behind him, Lia's eyes widened immediately understanding why their magic felt similar.

"No way…" Lia muttered as she gripped the railings

Darkness fell over the town except all the real participants were covered in a soft glow "Night of falling stars…" Rufus said as beams of lightning hit each participant but Nalpudding who narrowly avoided it before jumping at Rufus, only for the said person to disappear as Nalpudding passed through, before Rufus reappeared and hi Nalpudding.

"There's no doubt about it" Lia muttered

"Lia?" Mira questioned

"It's particle magic. No, I think it's something more advance, properly was based on particle magic" Lia said "A mix of molding magic and particle magic!"

"How is that possible?" Gajeel asked

"Particle magic is the possibility to control anything and change it, molding magic is the possibility to create based on your imagination, if you mix those two…" Lia said "Memory make, a magic like that it would be almost limitless!"

As everyone started with shock at the score, Lia's team were also shocked at her words, Particle magic was rare to see something that definitely looked like it.

As Gray Jumped at Rufus, Gray was hit by Nalpudding instead.

"Time's up!" Chapati announced as the town disappeared "Here are the rankings!" Sabertooth first followed by Raven Tail, then Lamia Scale followed by Blue Pegasus followed by Mermaid Heel, with Quatro Cerberus in sixth, Fairy Tail B team in seventh and finally Fairy Tail A team in eighth.

The crowd mocking Fairy Tail came right after as Gray and Juvia left the arena, both didn't rejoin their teams.

"And now we continue to the battle part, a member from each team will fight in a single match. This isn't a tournament." Chapati announced

The first match was announced to be Lucy facing Raven Tail's Flare Corona, the only woman on Raven Tail's team.

"Raven Tail!" Mira muttered

"First they attacked Wendy, then kept targeting Gray" Lia added before her eyes dropped in worry "I hope Lucy comes out okay from this"

The match began with Lucy summoning Taurus, as Flare jumped to avoid his attack. Lucy followed with summoning Scorpio, surprising everyone she managed two gates at the same time, he shot sand at Flare whose hair turned to flame and acted as a shield for her.

Taurus used Scorpio's Sand to create a giant sandstorm that engulfed the arena. Lucy closed their gates as Flare was sent flying. Flare's hair lashed out in wolf form as Lucy counter by summoning Cancer who cut through the hair easily.

"Amazing…" Raine commented as she watched the match

"She improved a lot" Venus said as Lisanna agreed

Flare's hair went underground as it went for Lucy and gripped her legs, Flare used her hair to keep Lucy rotating in circles before she threw her at the ground hard, her hair not letting go.

Lucy used her whip to grip Flare's arm and the two were caught in a pull but Flare lit her hair on fire burning Lucy's legs which were saved most of the damage thanks to her boots. Lucy discarded her boots.

"Eh…Lucy's doing pretty well!" Lia noted happily as Mira agreed

"These guys trained hard, didn't they?!" Mira said

"She's stronger than before" Gajeel admitted

Flare's hair lashed underground again, they were surprised when the hair didn't lash out immediately. Before it eventually came holding Lucy around her mouth and throwing her at the ground.

Lia's eyes narrowed, she though Lucy was about to shout something before she was attacked.

The tides turned as Lucy wasn't even fighting back and just accepted a beating from Flare whose hair acted as whips. Her hair caught Lucy by the waist throwing her across the arena, before she lit it a flame and started hitting Lucy again.

Flare hung Lucy up, and started threatening Lucy before deciding on branding her with the Raven Tail's brand.

Lia stiffened her hand coming to her side over the scar that was left from Tenrou, her gut was telling her something was wrong, she lashed out with her sense to find it. They had attacked Wendy, targeted Gray, the only explanation for Lucy bowing down like this if they were doing something no one knew about but Lucy did. Lia's eyes widened when she sensed it.

"Asuka?!" Lia called in worry, she did feel Natsu running there too.

"Huh?" Mira wondered as her team turned to the Ginger whose expression showed anger

"Flare has a hair sticking right beside Asuka!" Lia told them as their eyes widened "Natsu is on his way there already…"

"What the hell?!" Laxus stated just as angry as the team turned to the fight just as Natsu called Lucy and burned the hair near Asuka.

Lucy pulled a key summoning Gemini, one of them attacked Flare while the other freed Lucy, before the two turned to Lucy wearing a towel.

"Sound out the heavens, open the heavens…" the two Lucy chanted as they placed their hands together "Stars across the universe, show yourselves to me with all your brilliance!" A glow surrounded Lucy as a magic circle appeared under her "Tetrabiblos, I am the ruler of the stars. My aspect is perfection. Open thy savage gate! 88 stars of the heavens…Open!" Plants and stars filled the sky "Urano Metria!" before they started falling to hit Flare.

It was sudden, the spell disappeared along with Lucy's magic, even Gemini was gone. Lucy fell to the ground tired.

"Raven Tail…" Lia muttered angrily as she stared at the person who she had sensed use his magic at the same moment "He did it!" Lia said glaring straight at the blue skinned guy.

The mocks and laughs came at Lucy from the crowd as she cried, before Natsu went down to get her and help her get out of the arena.

"So they will resort to any means to win…" Mira stated

The second match was between Mermaid Heel's Arania Webb and Blue Pegasus's Ren Akatsuki. The match kept going between the two sides both fighting hard till Ren managed to pull a victory with his fiancé, Sherry, cheering him.

The third match was between Quatro Cerberus's War Cry and Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear. War Cry started the match crying which was his magic, before Orga pulled a victory using just one hit of black lightning.

"Lightning…" Laxus noted

"Black Lightning…God slayer magic!" Lia said as she remembered what Natsu and the others told her about the god slayer in Grimoire Heart.

Orga instead of leaving the arena he asked for a mic and started singing. Making the crowd laugh while Lia and her team deadpanned.

"Alright, it's time for the final match of the first day." Chapati announced

"The teams that are left are Fairy Tail B and Lamia Scale, right?" Yajima added

"Long ago, these two guilds were about equal in terms of talent, so this should be an interesting match!" Jenny said

"Okay, I'll announce the first day's final match-up! From Fairy Tail B's Lia Sephiran versus…Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis!" Chapati announced as the crowd broke into cheered for Jura, while Lia froze.

"Huh?! It's a joke, right?!" She muttered white faced.

"Good luck ginger!" Gajeel told her as he clapped her on the back but she was too frozen to even react.

"I think we better walk her down there!" Mira said as they watched the pale Lia.

"Lia isn't that known except she was one of the Tenrou group and the daughter of the famous Elemental Enchanter, Sophia Sephiran!" Chapati announced

"Lia herself uses the same type of magic as her mother, Particle magic!" Yajima commented

"Particle magic, you say?" Rufus was interested, since he had read about the magic but never found enough reference about it.

Jura made it out into the arena, just as crowd cheered and called for him.

"That Jura person sure is popular" Levy commented

"Well, sure. He's one of the ten great wizard saints" Jet told her

"The same as our master…" Droy added

"Then Lia…" Lisanna started with a wince

"Can she do it?" Raine wondered filled with worry as Lisanna was

"It's okay." Venus assured them "Lia have been working hard this three months, you guys weren't there but she has a few cards up her sleeve."

Meanwhile Lia's team stood behind her, Lia didn't know what she was supposed to do, why the hell was she put against Jura, what sense of humor did the sponsors have?!

"This is unlucky." Laxus said behind her

"Going up against Jura…" Mira started

"Is that cueball really that strong?" Gajeel wondered as Mira nodded

"I don't even know if Erza and I could beat him working together…" Mira said

"You really know how to motivate a person!" Lia told them crest fallen. "I am doomed...is what I would like to say, but after what everyone did today and all that happened…I don't have the right to complain" Lia looked back at them smiling and they could see the determination in her eyes. "Besides I did want to surprise everyone, what better way than fighting and wining against one of the ten saints"

"Good luck out there" Mira told her smiling as Lia nodded and turned around.

She walked forward entering the arena swallowing her fear by thinking about her friends and what they faced today, it was Fairy Tail's last chance today, she needed to do it for her family.

She faced against Jura in the middle of the arena, all fear forgotten and only determination in her eyes,

"Personally, I'm rooting for Fairy Tail, but our Obaba is really strict about that…My apologies, but I'm not going to hold back here" Jura told her and she could see he meant business.

"Neither am I, it came down to me holding everyone's hopes for today….For Fairy Tail…For my family I am going to win this!" Lia told him with clenched fists and fire burning in her eyes, making him smirk

"Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis versus Fairy Tail B's Lia Sephiran!" Chapati announced "Let the final match of the day…begin!"

"Body enchant: Celero! Robur! Defendo! Reflex!" Lia immediately casted her enchantments on herself "Magic Missile: Fire!"

The fire balls headed for Jura who made earth pillars rise taking the hit, but the pillars kept rising in a line heading for Lia, who simply jumped up but didn't come down.

"She's flying?!" Natsu said as they watched this was definitely something new. "Wow!"

Lia kept twisting through the pillars that came at her from different directions, before she teleported in the air right above Jura looking down at him "Magic Burst: Heaven's Light!"

The magic circle appeared in front of her with the magic gathering at five tips forming a star before each point headed for Jura who got hit by the magic beams.

"A teleportation followed by a spell right after…" Laxus said impressed she managed to overcome a weakness in that spell.

"And that spell, on Tenroujima one cast and she would be down, but she doesn't seem fazed" Mira added

Dust covered the area where Jura stood, but Lia sensed his spell coming at her. As a fist made from earth cut through the dust heading for her.

"Cito!" Lia countered as the hand easily turned to sand and fell to the ground.

What she didn't manage to react fast enough for was the sand solidifying midair and twisting away from her magic circle hitting her from the side easily shattering her defense enchantment before she recasted it.

"That's some kind of strong! He isn't called one of the great ten saints for nothing!" Chapati commented

Even though Lia doubted that was the full extent of his power, he was still testing the water.

Lia stood up and smirked as four magic circles she had placed around Jura shone before connecting to form a larger circle. "Infernal Torrent!" The flame tower rose around Jura rotating around itself.

"When did she set up that?!" Jet wondered

When the flames died down, Jura was still standing surrounded with what looked like the remains of an earth dome, but molted. Jura himself wasn't harmed.

"Amazing! Withstanding an attack like that!" Chapati commented

Lia have been giving every attack her all, but Jura didn't even look even a bit fazed. Lia took into the air again, "Magic Missile: Wind!" Multiple miniature tornados headed for Jura who easily countered "Iron Rock Wall!" A wall rose taking the hit, Lia didn't stop there though, "Magic Burst: Arrows!" with her hand stretched as a magic beam formed in her hand heading for Jura, but separated around the wall turning to multiple beams and hitting Jura.

Jura countered by breaking his walls with its bricks heading for Lia, who teleported away but they followed her, as she kept flying out of their way but get hit by them eventually and fell from the strong hit shattering her defense enchantment again, she recasted it, thankful for her vaster magic reserves.

When the ground started shaking under her, she took into the air, just as an earth hand came from under her following her while she evaded.

"Elementization: Wind!" Lia casted before she faded out, Jura looked around him he could feel his magic around him but couldn't pin point it.

The wind currents changed around him as the sharp blades of winds started appearing around him and started cutting landing a few good hits.

"Where are the attacks coming from?!" Chapati commented as he watched as confused as the crowd…almost all of the crowd.

"That is Elementization! A spell that allows the caster to change into an element! It was a spell made by Sophia Sephiran!" Yajima explained

"To have actually learned that spell though, she's doing far better than anyone would have expected" Makarov added to his guild

Venus chuckled "And that's not half of what she can do"

Jura had already figured this was what was going on, and choosing wind on her part was smart, it was something he couldn't hit, but could prove lethal to him.

The wind worked even more, moving faster and fiercer, Jura ended up slashed all over as the storm rose around him.

Jura did catch sight of her in a ghostly figure though as she gathered for a second in one place right before she was about to send an attack, so when the next time it happened, he sent a rock pillar hitting her and dispersing her wind.

Lia gathered up in her normal form breathing hard, she hadn't expected him to notice the spell's weakness…no she may have but just not this fast. She wasn't going down though. "Magic burst: Heav-" She sensed him before she saw him as he appeared right where she stood with a punch, she teleported out of the way as Jura's hand made contact with the ground forming a small crater.

She was bit her lip and brushed her bangs to the side as she stared from where she flew in the sky at where she previously stood, that hit would have had her out of the match. It also made her realize that he was just getting started.

"I am up against a monster" She muttered to herself. She knew Gildarts could definitely beat him, maybe even Laxus could…but she was doomed…not that she would give up, anyhow, her plan was going fine so far.

Jura stood up and turned to look at her, he had wasted enough time, and also he was wary, her magic was varied and despite everything she had managed to avoid most of his attacks, he couldn't give her the chance to pull something else.

He even was more wary when he noticed her smirk. "Trap Explosion!" Lia released the spell that she had set up earlier as the magic circle appeared under Jura, before a large explosion took place.

Trap Explosion was a spell that is preset and was stronger than a regular explosion and grew stronger with the time it is left set.

Jura jumped out of the resulting smoke, almost unharmed. "Magic Burst: Heaven's Light!" The magic beams headed from him from different directions, but he dodged them easily as he caused multiple earth pillars to head for her, Lia rose even higher to avoid them, as Jura caused one to raise him just as high while his others pillars kept going after her.

"Amazing! Both moving at a speed, we almost can't keep track!" Chapati commented "Follow the rest of the battle on the Lacrima vision!"

Lacrima vision appeared to allow the crowd to keep watch over the battle being held up in the sky.

She vanished and appeared above him "Magic Burst!" The magic beam formed a pillar surrounding him, she teleported just as he jumped out of the beam with a punch, this repeated as he managed to keep track of her and used his pillars to jump towards her.

Lia kept teleporting…She was truly grateful her sense and reflex enchantment that allowed her to act fast enough…no defense enchantment would have stopped that punch.

"Explosion!" She casted at the middle of the pillar he was standing on causing it to fall to the ground. Jura jumped to another which Lia did the same to causing Jura to need to summon even more pillars to stay up there. Amidst trying to stay in the sky, Lia used the diversion to vanish, Jura looked to find her on the ground.

Crouched she placed both hands on the ground "Gravity!" All surrounding pillars were crushed to the ground as they were forced to collapse under extreme pressure, Jura jumped from one fallen rock to another till her was safe on the ground, but still being affected by gravity enough to slow him down but not stop him.

Lia stood "Elementization: Lightning!" Her body changed till it was formed of lightning. Laxus smirked, while Sabertooth's Orga seemed interested in the fact she could use lightning.

She moved fast that Jura's eyes barely kept up, but when she aimed a kick he blocked with his arm, but she smirked as her lightning leg cackled electrocuting him. Despite that, Jura gripped her leg and threw her away.

She flipped midair, flying upwards till she was a distance in the air, she gathered her lightning at the sky, clouds darkened in the sky, before bolts of lightning came crashing down.

"Rock Mountain!" Jura countered as an earth golem appeared above him in defense.

Everyone covered their eyes from the bright light that covered the arena, when it faded, Lia stood on the ground facing Jura, who was unscathed but his golem was destroyed.

Lia though breathed hard, she was burning through quite the amount of magic after all, and while she did manage to avoid the majority of Jura's hits what did land, even with her defense enchantments still hurt.

Lia's eyes widened just as Jura pointed his fingers forward and pieces of the destroyed pillars and golems came flying at her at incredible speed.

A dust cloud covered where Lia had stood, make her friends worried at the sudden hit. It cleared to show her still standing with her hands clapped together and all things in a perfect sphere around her destroyed.

"Amazing! Managing to fight so far and avoid all this hits! Does Fairy Tail still has a chance to win points today?!" Chapati wondered

It was sudden as Lia was hit and thrown back hitting the wall of the arena a crater forming behind her from the force of the hit. Jura standing right where she had been.

It was before she could sense or react, she fell to the ground. The crowd cheered Jura, as Fairy Tail stared with worry and shock. "Looks like Jura wi…Oh, she's standing up! And after taking a hit like that!" Chapati announced

Lia stood up, her defense enchantment had shattered and she had felt majority of the punch's hit, but majority isn't a whole, and she would keep going as long as she had an ounce of power in her.

"If you think I am going down that easily…" She said each word as she stood up and a large magic circle appeared on the ground covering the entire arena, "…you have another thing coming for you!"

The ground in the entire Arena started glowing "Time for a big finale!" She said as she got ready to release the spell she's been setting for the entire match "Minefield Explosion!"

Every spell she had casted and hit the ground at some point, or every time she touched the ground, she had set an explosive in the waiting. Now she was going to release all that.

Everyone felt the huge pressure that came from the ground before the entire field exploded, as Jura used Rock Mountain to defend himself, they had to hold to their seats just so they wouldn't fly off.

The arena was covered in a huge cloud of dust hiding both Jura and Lia, The dust cleared, to show Jura on the ground guarded under a half-destroyed Rock Golem he had summoned.

Lia on the other end standing with her arms stretched in front of her with a magic circle in front of her.

"Fairy Tail doesn't give up!" Lia shouted her hair failing around her from the magic power being exerted "Magic burst: Heaven's punishment!" Lia called as the magic circle started glowing producing magic pressure that could be felt by everyone in the arena before the beam released, covering the arena in a too bright glow, and causing everyone to hold to their seats again.

When the glow faded all that could be seen from the arena was covered in a cloud of dust, along with specks of magic floating in the air.

"Time's up!" Chapati announced "If the two are still standing then it's going to be tie! Will it be possible?!"

The dust cloud cleared eventually showing a hard-breathing, injured and holding her rips Lia and Jura who for the most part was fine his golem completely gone though and his clothes would need fixing, but both were standing.

"It's a tie! Unbelievable! Lia Sephiran from Fairy Tail had managed to tie against Lamia's scale, one of the ten saints, Jura Neekis!" Chapati announced Fairy Tail's cheers could be heard loudly unlike the shocked crowd "Both Guilds Take five points, brining Lamia Scale's total to 11 point and Fairy Tail's total to 6 points!

And with this shocking end, the first day of the Grand Magic Games comes to a close! Here's the overall ranking!"

Sabertooth was in first place with 20 points then Raven Tail with 18 points followed by Blue Pegasus with 14 points, then Lamia Scale with 11 points, then Fairy Tail B with 6 points then Mermaid heel with 3 points, Quatro Cerberus with 2 points and finally Fairy Tail A with 0 points.

"What do you Mr. Yajima? It's no surprise that Sabertooth is number one. And Fairy Tail B had made a comeback with those five points ending up in fifth but Fairy Tail A is in eighth" Chapati said

"It's still just the first day. I'm hoping for even more comebacks from tomorrow on." Yajima replied

"And my guild still has a shot at victory. I can't wait for day two!" Jenny added

"Mr. Yajima, Miss Jenny, thank you very much for your commentary today." Chapati ended

Lia walked off the arena back into the hallway where her team was waiting. "Good job, Lia!" Mira told her smiling at Lia, who smiled back, not finding the strength to reply.

"Impressive! You surprised everyone!" Laxus told her

"Now we're definitely gonna show everyone!" Gajeel said clapping her on the back as she fell forward unconscious Laxus managed to catch her before she hit the ground though "Eh?!"

"Looks like she's going to need to rest for a bit" Mira said as Laxus agreed.

"She's earned it after all!" Laxus said carrying her.


	31. GMG: Day two!

**Here's the new chapter, and I want to thank CrystalVixen93, Kaynar, Mogryking, L.A. Artemis for their reviews, this thanks is long overdue :D and thank to all the people that followed and favorite this story, over 30 follows! I didn't even notice when it happened O_O so thanks guys I hope you enjoy this fanfic as much as I enjoy writing it! ^_^**

 **By the way what did you think of Lia vs Jura fight last chapter? ;)**

* * *

When Lia woke up she found herself in the infirmary, "Finally woke up?! When you said you would visit after the games, I didn't think this was what you meant…" Porlyusica told her "Wasn't the whole point of releasing the seal that you didn't end up magic exhausted?!"

Lia rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she sat up "Luck of the draw?!" she offered but the annoyed look on Porlyusica shut her up. "So I guess I can't join in on tomorrow's games?"

"If you do, don't expect me to help you after!" She replied sharply "You're not badly injured, just a day's rest to recover magic and let the magic potion take affect and you can go risking your life again!"

"I will try and be careful next time" Lia told her as she slipped off the bed and put her boots on which were next to the bed. "Carla, you're awake!" Lia noted as the exceed sat there looking grim

"What's wrong?!" Lia asked her softly alerted by her expression.

"It's nothing, I am still tired that's all" Carla answered her, Lia had a feeling the exceed was lying but she decided not to push it since Carla was still recovering.

"If you need to talk about anything, I am always willing" Lia told her before turning a sad look on Wendy as she swallowed the anger rising in her towards Raven Tail. "Well both of you already recovered a lot"

"Your spell worked" Porlyusica told her "and with no side effects as far as I can tell, they should be up in another day."

Lia left after deciding to go find her guild mates as she walked the almost quite serene streets of Crocus, she guessed her guildmates would be getting drunk, at a bar close enough to one of the inns they were staying at, which narrowed it and from their she just had to look for the familiar magic signatures.

That's how she found herself at a bar overlooking the river in town. "Yo!" She greeted her guildmates.

"You're up already?" Mira wondered

"Of course, I am completely fine!" Lia replied

"Says who collapsed after just a clap on the back" Gajeel said laughing at her

"I would love to see you face that guy and then you can talk!" she retorted huffing.

"Other than that match though…What a disaster of a day" Erza commented

"I know…" Mira agreed "We'd all better get our act together from tomorrow." As Lia took an empty seat with Laxus and the thunder tribe.

"I'm up tomorrow!" Natsu announced "And I'll turn things around for us, you'll see!"

"You can do it, Natsu!" Happy cheered

"If the Salamander's gonna be in the game, maybe I'll join in, too…" Gajeel said

"I'd say it's high time you showed 'em the results of your training." Lily agreed

"You're not even going to wait to see what game it might me, are you?" Venus questioned from where she sat with Lisanna and Raine, at the table Cana sat on.

"I don't think they care" Lisanna said as Raine nodded.

"huh? Lu and Gray aren't here?" Levy wondered

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen 'em…" Jet said

"I'm not surprised, the way they lost…" Macao said

"They probably don't wanna be seen right now." Wakaba added

"I don't know about that. Both of them were cool in my eye." Romeo said

"I agree, With Lucy they only managed to win by cheating, and Gray they had to completely focus on him just to pin him down" Sol added

Just as Juvia's imagination ran wild, Lucy and Gray entered the pub. "It's not happening…" Gray told her

"As always you've got a fertile imagination." Lucy said "And this time, it was long!"

Levy walked up to Lucy "Lu, are you okay?!"

"I'm totally fine. In fact, this has pumped me up even more!" Lucy told her

Gray went towards Lisanna "Where are Wendy and Carla?"

"Looks like they're still under the weather…" Lisanna answered "Porlyusica is with them"

"Don't worry they should be up in a day or two" Lia told them from her place

Makarov jumped on the table "Alright! We're all here, yeah?!" Makarov shouted "Listen up, brats! Today's defeat is the seed for tomorrow's victory! Let's rise up! 'Cause we don't know the meaning of the words 'give up'! Aim for number one in Firoe!"

"Yeah!" Everyone's raised in cheer. As the guild broke into the usual chaos.

"Looks like nothing ever brings this guild down!" Someone noted as they entered the pub "Yo!"

"Eiran!" Lia called

"Welcome back!" Mira greeted him

"Sure took your time though" Lia noted with crossed arms as they both stared at each other, both daring the other to be the first to apologize.

"Now, now you two…" Mira tried to intervene as Eiran sighed

"Your match was…pretty good" He grumbled as Lia blinked "There was a lacrima vision in the closest town, I stopped to watch the games there."

"Thanks…" She replied

"Yo, Eiran fight me!" Natsu yelled as he turned to Eiran after Max ended on the ground defeated by the said dragon slayer

"I haven't even been back for five minutes" Eiran sighed as Natsu jumped at Eiran who with one hit sent him to the ground "Maybe later!"

It wasn't that strong of hit though that Natsu recovered in a few minutes yelling for who next like he wasn't even sent to the ground, which made Lia think that maybe he have been too many times on the head by the S class in the guild.

"Looks like fun. I'll take you up on that." Gajeel said from beside their table

"Don't. Once you and Natsu get started, it's not gonna be a game." Laxus told him

So Gajeel turned patting Laxus's head as Levy tried pulling him away.

"Hey, your head's really gotten rounder, Laxus!" Gajeel said as Levy urged him to stop

"B-Bastard!" Freed yelled as he stood up "How dare you do that to Laxus?! Right now, our pride is being trampled! Laxus's Thunder tribe, assemble!"

Only to find both Evergreen and Bickslow on the ground too drunk to move.

"Your troops are down!" Lia told him "Say Gajeel, are you sure you want to face Laxus? If you get to injured, we might just have to swap you out of the team…that will be too bad, since you won't get the chance to take part if we win the bet" This made the iron dragon slayer stop as he walked away. "See easy!"

"I'm gonna go handle that…" Freed commented as he pointed to his two fallen friends

Lia grabbed one of the drinks as Laxus stared at her "What do I have something on my face?" She asked him

"It's nothing…" Laxus commented

"Liar…What's up?" She told him, they didn't get the chance when the ruckus behind them grasped their attention, they turned to find someone had out drank Cana and walked away with her bra top.

"What the hell are you doin'?!" Macao yelled at him

"Gildarts will murder you!" Wakaba added as he guy just laughed at them

"Bacchus?!" Laxus noted from beside her

Bacchus easily defeated the two. As Erza walked towards him as they got talking before he announced he was now joining the Quatro Cerberus team under the reserve members rule. And considering the magic power Lia could sense off this guy, she didn't like the fact another monster was now in the fray too.

"He's trouble…" Lia noted

"Ah, his magic style isn't to be looked down on" Laxus commented and this was Lia's turn to stare at him "What?"

"Nothing…" She told him in a sing song voice getting back to her drink.

The next day had everyone in the arena as they watched the game of the day.

"And now, what you've all been waiting for, the second day of the Grand Magic Games as begun!" Chapati announced "Our guest on this second day is renowned reporter for weekly sorcerer, Mr. Jason! Okay, the competition part has already begun! And its name is…Chariot! This competition takes place on top of a line of vehicles, with the ides being to reach the goal without falling off! As the vehicles are always moving, just one moment of carelessness could lead to a misstep! The vehicles will wend their way around the sightseeing spots of Crocus, but which team will arrive here at Domus Flau?!

Everyone in the stadium, you can watch the race here on Lacrima Vision!" Fairy Tail member though stared with horror and shame

"Cool!" Jayson yelled

"At any rate, Mr. Yajima, who could have predicted this turn of events?!" Chapati wondered

"Maybe we should have let someone else sign up for this?!" Mira wondered

"He should have understood what Chariot meant!" Laxus commented

"That's the thing…this is the first time he's ever been motion sick, I think…" Lia commented as Juvia agreed

"Oh, my! Way in the rear is a groggy-looking Natsu from Fairy Tail A!" Chapati commented

"This isn't gonna work…" Jet said from the stands as Droy agreed

"I did say they need to think about what the game could be…" Venus added with a frown

"And that's not all! Right in front of him is Gajeel from Fairy Tail B and even Sting from Sabertooth, all moving like molasses!" Chapati said "What's going on here, Mr. Yajima?"

They watched the three Dragon slayers as they barely moved, green in the face.

"I suppose the three of them have something in common." Yajima said

Leading the race though was Raven Tail's black snake, followed by Ichiya from Blue Pegasus, the Lamia Scale's Yuuka after him Mermaid heel's Risley.

Then after them Bacchus from Quatro Cerberus. Yuuka used his magic to try and slow Ichiya and Risley, the latter which avoided him by walking on the side of the car using her magic, Ichiya used his magic directly into his nose to give him a boost.

Bacchus though hit the car he was on causing it to break and a chain reaction causing the other cars to side trail and fall to the side. Before he ran forward making it past everyone, even Black Snake, and taking first place.

Second place was taken by Raven Tail, then Mermaid Heel, followed by Lamia Scale then Blue Pegasus. Leaving the three still motion sick Dragon slayers.

They watched with shame the barely moving three, as the crowd laughed.

"Maybe Laxus, too…?" Mira wondered

"Don't tell anybody." Laxus told her

"I think it's obvious by this point." Juvia commented as Lia nodded, before they turned to watch the remaining of the game.

"You totally serious. Even though you can't draw on any power…" Sting started "Go ahead! I'll give this match to you. After this one, we're gonna keep winning anyway. We're not gonna miss one or two points."

"Don't cry about that one point later, kid!" Gajeel replied

"Would you answer me one thing?" Sting asked as the two turned towards him "Why did you decide to participate in the tournament? I wouldn't believe you were the same Fairy Tail from back in the day. Are you worried about the strength of your guild? About your public image? The Fairy Tail that I know were more like…They did everything at their own pace…They didn't give a damn about what people thought of them."

"For…their friends…" Natsu said "Seven years...All that time…they were waitin' for us…no matter how painful it was…no matter how sad…even if people made fun of 'em…they held on…they held on…they protected the guild…for their friends…and now we're gonna show everyone…the proof that Fairy Tail's been walking on all this time! So keep on goin'!"

This caused the members to break into tears, grin and/or smile.

They watched as Natsu finally reached the finish line taking sixth for two points followed by Gajeel taking seventh for one point.

The crowd started cheering for Fairy Tail for their tenacity and hard work.

With the new points, Fairy Tail A remained in eighth with two points while Fairy Tail B dropped to seventh with seven points.

Raven Tail rose to first since Sabertooth had dropped in the game and got zero points in it.

"Good job, Gajeel!" Mira told him as he dragged himself to their balcony

"Looks like you might need this!" Lia told him as she put a hand on his cheek "Body Enchant: Balance!"

Gajeel started to feel the motion sickness recede "Thanks"

"You should feel better in a minute" Lia told him with a smile "I'm gonna go check on Natsu, he might need this too"

Lia left to go to the infirmary just as the first match was announced between Raven Tail's Blacksnake and Lamia Scale's Tobi.

"Raven Tail…" Eiran noted as he his eyes switched from blacksnake to their members in their balcony, the dark he had made the rest of Fairy Tail jump away from him.

"Ivan pulled a dirty trick in the Lucy's match and they even targeted Gray in yesterday's games…" Makarov told him as he gave him a look

"I found out something…" Eiran whispered as he leaned on the railing beside him eyes on the arena below as Blacksnake easily avoided Tobi's hits

"We'll talk about it after the day's competitions are done" Makarov told him as Eiran stayed silent, as Mavis watched the two of them.

In the arena below after avoiding multiple of Tobi's slashed, Blacksnake disappeared as Jura yelled at Tobi that it was mimicry magic. Tobi emerged using Max's sand rebellion, successfully hitting Tobi.

"That's my magic!" Max said unbelieving

"So he can mimic the properties of anyone's magic!" Laki noted

"Mimic…That's unusual magic." Mavis stated

"I still doubt it's as strong as the real thing…" Eiran added as both Makarov and Romeo cheered on Tobi.

Lia headed for the infirmary after running into Lucy who told her Natsu was there, but stopped herself at the infirmary door, as she heard Carla and Porlyusica talking.

"What good would telling her about that future do?" Carla said "There's no way she would believe me. Mercurius collapsing…while someone was singing inside…it was Lucy…"

Lia hesitated at the door after what she heard, was that why Carla was acting weird last night? Could it have anything to do with the strange magic?

She shook the thoughts from her head as she entered. "Hey Porlyusica, Carla!" Wendy and Natsu each laid unconscious on a bed with Carla sitting beside Wendy's. "How are you feeling Carla?"

"Better already" She answered as Lia smiled

"That's great, and I can feel Wendy's magic is already going up" Lia said, before walking towards Natsu's bed.

"He really drove himself to the ground…" Lia commented with a smile as she walked up to him, she put a hand on his forehead "Body Enchant: Balance! This should have him up soon enough…if lucky just in time for his team's turn in battle."

"Aren't you on opposite teams though?" Carla asked her

"I helped Wendy yesterday too, besides we're still guildmates despite everything!" Lia told her as she smiled before looking sadly towards Carla "Sorry Carla, but I heard you and Porlyusica talking earlier." Carla's eyes widened as Porlyusica just looked at her

Back in the arena, Blacksnake and Tobi made a bet the prior would tell his real name if he lost while the latter would tell a secret of his if he lost.

The battle continues as Tobi kept slashing at Blacksnake who easily dodged bit with another sand attack Blacksnake won as Tobi lied on the ground.

When asked what his secret was, he stated that he couldn't fight one of his socks which actually hung from a necklace.

After Blacksnake pointed it out for him and Tobi was happy for it, Blacksnake destroyed it sending Tobi into tears as the rest of Raven Tail laughed.

"What's his deal? There's a man with a sick sense of humor!" Evergreen said

"That's the true nature of Raven Tail." Wakaba added

"No…I don't think they're even close to showing their true selves yet" Eiran stated

"Nasty…I don't even know what Ivan's thinkin'…" Macao added

"Okay, let's get back on track with today's second match! From Quatro Cerberus, Bacchus!" Chapati announced "Versus an opponent from Fairy Tail A…Elfman!"

"Elfman?!" Lisanna wondered beside them

"It's over!" Macao, Wakaba and Happy said together

"That's a terrible thing to say!" Lisanna told them

"It's nothing to do with Elfman, Lisanna. Bacchus though…he's on another level" Eiran told her

"Don't worry Lisanna, I think Elfman can do it" Raine told her

Elfman and Bacchus both made it down to the arena, while Elfman stood, Bacchus laid on his side with a smirk.

"Hey, how about you and me make a bet like those last guys did?" Bacchus suggested "Both of your sisters are delightful…"

"What do you wanna say?" Elfman asked him

"If I win, they're mine. Both of them, at the same time…" Bacchus said

"Two at the same time….that's a warped form of love!" Happy said before he shrieked away from the dark aura coming from Eiran

"Don't worry Lisanna…Bacchus is gonna end up as crystal dust before he can get near you or Mira" Eiran stated and if looks could kill, Bacchus would have just burned to ash on the spot.

"I don't think he's joking" Venus said as she looked at Eiran

"Aye" Happy agreed

"If you win…Let's see…" Bacchus said but Elfman cut in

"Man…There are some things a man can't let pass…Hound dog…I'm gonna tear you apart!" Elfman told him

"Then we have a deal?" Bacchus asked smirking and not affected by Elfman's glare "My soul is quivering."

Back in the infirmary…"If you want you can tell me about it, I won't even tell the others if you don't want me to…" Lia told her as she sat across from Carla on another chair.

She had heard about Carla's ability to see the future…so she had every right to worry.

"There's not much to tell…it was probably just a nightmare… I saw the castle falling…and someone singing inside…it was Lucy" Carla told her as Lia somehow doubted it was singing…maybe screaming…crying she had no way to tell.

Lia walked towards Carla as she patted her head, "Don't worry Carla, true or not, we'll handle whatever gets thrown at us" She assured the Exceed "That's how Fairy Tail does it!"

Carla nodded with a small smile, "Anyway, you should go everyone is probably waiting for you"

"I guess you're right" Lia said "Make sure to rest and don't worry yourself too much, Later!" She left the infirmary and headed back to her team, Cana was standing with them as she joined and looked down to find Elfman facing Bacchus.

The prior was getting beat up by the latter, Elfman's jacket was in shreds and what was worth with what Lia was sensing Bacchus wasn't even fighting at full power.

"What did I miss?" Lia asked as she everyone was watching the match with real worry

"Bacchus made a bet with Elfman before the match started, that if he won he would have Mira and Lisanna for himself for a night" Cana told her as Lia's eyes widened

"What?! What's wrong with this guy?!" Lia questioned unbelieving before they went back to watching the match as Elfman changed into his Weretiger form, but Bacchus still dodged his punches easily.

Elfman kept trying to punch Bacchus who dodged easily while throwing his own punches.

Lia froze though when she sensed something from beyond the crowd and explosion…not a big one…but she could sense Wendy, Carla, Porlyusica and Natsu there. They seemed fine though, but it raised the question of what happened.

"Stand up, Elfman!" Cana called as Lia's thoughts were interrupted

"The movements of drunken Bacchus are as powerful as they are unpredictable." Mira said

"Huh? But he hasn't had anything to drink yet, right?" Juvia commented "Then…"

"He's not fighting at full power" Lia confirmed "Most of his magic is still intact" Before she smiled as he eyes zeroed at someone among the Fairy Tail members in the crowd before going down to the arena "I wouldn't worry so much though, Bacchus is now facing the worst thing he could possibly face…an angry protective bother…Elfman isn't going to lose this"

"You're right!" Mira agreed with a smile

Elfman's take over was undone as he laid down on the ground, before he pushed himself up and stood on his feet.

"So you are standing up? I guess all that repetition of the word 'man' wasn't for nothing." Bacchus said

"Come to think of it, I didn't decide yet, hound dog." Elfman started "The bet…What happens if I win…"

"Well, there's no chance of that, so go ahead, whatever you want." Bacchus told him

"If I win, the name of your guild for the duration of the games is Quatro Puppy" Elfman stated causing Bacchus himself to stifle a laugh.

"'Puppy'? As in little dog?" Juvia wondered

"'Four Puppies'?" Mira wondered

"I like that! Make 'em say it, Elfman!" Cana grinned as Lia chuckled at it.

Bacchus grabbed his bottle as he drank it all.

"Now it gets serious" Lia said

Bacchus went for Elfman who had used his take over magic at the same time, Bacchus hit Elfman seven times in one instant, too fast for most people to see.

"Elfman!" Evergreen called in worry

"That's Drunken cleaving hook Palm!" Lisanna said wide eyed

"I-I don't know what happened because I couldn't see it!" Happy said

"Seven hits in one instant…that's how fast it was…" Eiran told them

On the other side, was Team B staring in shock as well.

"I-Incredible…" Cana said

"That just did a lot of damage, didn't it?" Juvia said

"Not as much as she would have usually done" Lia commented with a grin as Mira nodded.

Elfman stood in his Lizardman form just as Bacchus arm guards fell to the ground.

"That's some strategy." Mira said

"It's crazy." Juvia commented "True, Lizardman's skin and scales are covered with innumerable spines, so it goes well against a bare-handed opponent, but this particular opponent can shatter Lizardman's tough scales."

"But it has a good chance of working" Lia added

They watched on as Bacchus kept hitting Elfman who remained standing. Bacchus's armor and Elfman's scales kept shattering as they kept watching.

Just as finally the two dropped to their knees panting, injured and tired, Bacchus laughed as he stood up before falling to the ground and Elfman was declared the winner, getting Fairy Tail A ten points, as all of Fairy Tail broke into cheers.

Elfman roared as the crowds cheered, "Does this battle roar portend Fairy Tail's comeback?!" Chapati wondered "Elfman pulls off a spectacular victory over a formidable enemy!"

* * *

"It seems I slightly underrated you, Elfman. When it comes to tenacity and being able to take punishment, you just may be number one in our guild. We'll definitely follow the lead of your hard-won victory." Erza said as Fairy Tail A stood in the infirmary along with Lia, who was here to check on him since she was the only one in her team to have battled already, along with the thunder tribe and Lisanna and an awake Wendy.

"I never thought I'd hear Erza dish out praise like that." Lucy said

"She wouldn't if he hadn't earned it." Gray said

"You totally gave me the shivers, Elfman!" Natsu said

"Cut it out. You guys sounds like you're payin' tribute to a dead man." Elfman told them

"From this angle you look more like a mummy" Lia joked "But you deserve the praise, you did a really good job!"

He groaned as Lisanna put a towel to his head "Well, stubbornness always has been your saving grace." Lisanna stated

"That's kind of a sad saving grace…" Natsu said

"You're not too different!" Elfman yelled back

"But It really was amazing, Elfman!" Wendy said

"It's pathetic, but I can't do anything laid up like this, so the rest is up to you, Wendy." Elfman told her

"Right!" She cheered

"Well, the next match has already begun." Porlyusica told them "Get going. One of the keys to victory is observing the enemy."

"Got it, Granny." Natsu replied "See ya later."

"We'll leave everything here to you three." Lia told the thunder tribe

"Relax. The thunder tribe will protect him." Bickslow said

"My runes will prevent outsiders from entering." Freed added

"We won't let this place be attacked again." Evergreen added

They all started making their way back along with Lisanna who decided come cheer Mira for both her and Elfman.

"Still, those Raven Tail jerks play dirty right out in the open…" Natsu said

Apparently the explosion Lia sensed was Natsu beating guys who had tried to kidnap Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica.

They turned to be working for Raven Tail and were actually after Lucy or Lia since they were looking for a girl who was at the infirmary as in the past.

"I wonder if their intention is to take us out one by one." Erza said

"I've still got my doubts about what happened." Carla stated

"What is it, Carla?" Wendy asked her

"I already heard the basics…" Erza said

"I have to agree with Carla though, something doesn't sit right with their method this time" Lia said

"We assume Raven Tail used a guild of bandits in an attempt to kidnap Lucy or Lia. But thanks to them screwing up the objective and Natsu's pursuit, the scheme failed twice over." Carla said

"Doesn't that make sense?" Lisanna wondered

"No…first, so far every time they did something they directly involved themselves. Second, they have a mage capable of stealing other people's magic, I sensed him when he used it on Lucy yesterday, which would be perfect for abducting than some bandits. Finally, why do they have to achieve by kidnapping one of us? Why not just order them to get rid of us on the spot? would have been better thank a kidnap?" Lia told them as Carla nodded

"Well they can't involve themselves because of the rules of the battle part, which requires all participants to stay close to the arena." Gray said

"That's because nobody knows who's going to be chosen for battle till just before, right?" Lisanna wondered

"You're both overthinking it" Wendy told them

"Yeah, I know very well that results matter much more to them than means" Lucy said

"Maybe…but we should remember that Raven Tail isn't our only enemy here…as far as we know it could be related to the that strange magic or to an enemy we don't know about yet" Lia said "We should stay vigilant"

"I agree, if we're being targeted outside of the arena, we mustn't let our guards down and try not to be alone at any time." Erza told them

They eventually made it back to the arena, Lia joined her team but before she could say anything she froze as she saw what was happening down in the arena.

On the other side at Fairy Tail's part of the crowd was a frozen blushing Eiran with a hand covering the lower part of his face.

"What's…going on?" Lia asked her team as Mira posed in a bikini as did her opponent Blue Pegasus's Jenny.

The male population in the crowds rose in cheers, as the two kept changing bikinis and doing different poses.

"Hold it!" Someone called "It won't do to let these little girls get all the attention!"

"When it comes to strength as well as beauty…" another added

"…Mermaid Heel is number one!" Yelled Risley, Beth and Arania as they posed down in the arena. The males in the arena were cheering even louder.

"Stop right there! You people don't have enough love!" Another one said "If you think you can please the crowd just by posing in swimsuits, you're gravely mistaken!" Sherie and Cherie both posed together as they joined the arena "It's all about love! Without love…"

"…You can't beat us!" Cherie finished

"I'm in awe of all of them…" Levy said as she, Lisanna, Raine and Venus huddled together

"This is no time to just sit back and be impressed!" Mavis told them

"Don't tell me…" Levy started

"…you want us to go down there, too?!" Raine and Lisanna said together

"But I didn't bring a swimsuit…" Cana said

"Cana your top is always that of a swimsuit" Venus told her

"Don't worry! I anticipated that so I came prepared with enough swimsuits for everybody!" Mavis told them as swimsuits started falling on them.

Mavis made her way to Fairy Tail A first, before she made it to Fairy Tail B while Juvia was already dressed in a swimsuit, Lia was stood there with a big blush.

"Swimsuits look best on Juvia, the water-manipulating wizard!" Juvia said

"What, you're going out there too?" Gajeel asked her

"A woman in love has to battle at a time like this." Juvia replied

"I'm sick of hearin' about it…" Laxus said sighing

"I find it sweet but even this is overboard…" Lia added

"You're not going?" Laxus asked her as she shook her head vigorously

"You have to join everyone!" Mavis told her happily

"No…no I don't" Lia replied but Juvia pulled her down with her anyway as Lia shrieked and between her guildmates she complied, changing her clothe into a two piece with ruffles red bikini, along with letting her hair down.

"This might be just your chance to get a boyfriend, Lia" Cana teased as Lia blushed even more. As Venus giggled at her and at Raine who was blushing red in her green bikini with the short side tie up skirt.

Venus herself posed in a violet, strapless tied with a bow in the middle bikini. Even Asuka came down along with Bisca. Evergreen and Mavis joined them as well.

The themes changed, first it was school swimsuits! Then bikinis and thigh-high socks.

"Can I please leave?!" Raine said blushing tomato red,

"Ditto to that" Lia agreed just as red, she didn't even realize she had someone else blushing a bit when he saw her in the getup.

"Come on it's fun!" Venus told them striking a pose

The theme changed again and they found themselves wearing glasses as well.

"This suits you Lia" Lucy told her as Levy agreed

"You think so?" Lia told her nervously

Next was them wearing cat ears and tails, both Lia and Venus didn't even notice as they both gushed over how cute Asuka looked.

The themes took even more twisted turns as the men lost their heads in the crowd.

"The next theme is 'Wedding dress'!" Chapati announced "Prepare a partner, then get into bridal gear!"

"Thanks for doing this, Eiran" Mira told the blushing Eiran standing beside her who was now wearing a black suit as he scratched the back of his head.

"Y-You look beautiful" He told her

"Thanks for the help, Eve" Venus told him as he took her hand in his, Venus was wearing a A-line Sweetheart, open Back, sleeveless Organza Floral, short front, long Back wedding Dress.

Her hair gathered in a bun with small floral bundle pinning the long veil.

"Anytime" He winked at her actually causing a small blush to appear.

Raine stood in an A-line Floor Length Lace, appliqued full length sleeves, Ivory Chiffon Beach Wedding Dresses with a short veil pinned to her hair.

"Mind if I was your partner?" Freed asked as he joined her

"Freed?! I thought you were in the infirmary" Raine wondered

"Can't leave you on your own…" He told her blushing a little as she did too.

In a Floor-Length Off Shoulder Mermaid Train Belt Organza Lace Wedding Dress was Lia wither hair tied at the back in a loose braid, with a small crown on her head.

She smiled as she saw each of her friends, maybe even laughed a bit when Lucy fell over Natsu.

"What are you laughing about?" Laxus asked her as he came beside her hands in the pockets of his pants, wearing white suit, Lia looked at him blushing a bit, thinking he looked handsome in that.

"Nothing, it just fun seeing everyone having fun like that, especially after how serious things were with the last match and Raven Tail being here" Lia replied as she looked away to hide the creeping blush.

"That dress really suits you" Laxus told her while looking away scratching his cheek.

"Thanks, you look pretty handsome yourself" Lia told him as she looked at the ground finding it very interesting, wondering what was wrong with her.

She was saved by the bell when it announced the wedding showdown was over and the next theme would be swimming suits again.

"I think it's about time for me to put an appearance!" Oba Baba, the old woman who's the master of Lamia scale yelled before she jumped into the arena and removing her cloak to reveal she was wearing a swimsuit.

Everyone blanked out as they stared at her.

"With that single strike, the excitement in this arena went down the drain. The interlopers suddenly lost interest and are returning to their seats" Chapati announced as everyone but Mira and Jenny returned to their seats.

Before the last theme Jenny and Mira made a bet on Jenny's suggestion that the loser would appear naked in the next episode of Sorcerer's weekly.

The final theme was announced to be battle gear so Mira changed into her strongest form Sitri form and finished the match with one hit.

"That's Mira for you…You don't want to piss her off" Lia stated as Juvia cheered

Mira was announced the winner giving her team ten points.

"That was incredible" Gajeel said

"Congratulations, Mira." Juvia told Mira as she joined them

"I feel like I wore a lot of immodest outfits." Mira said

"Although that last one had the most impact" Gajeel told her

"So now we have 17 points, tying us for fourth with Blue Pegasus" Laxus added

"Just a bit more for first" Lia said

The final match of the day was announced to be between Mermaid Heel's Kagura Mikazuchi versus Sabertooth's Yukino Agria.

"All of you already know how strong Kagura is. She's Mermaid Heel's strongest wizard as well as the weekly Sorcerer's top pick for female wizard!" Chapati said "Against her is Yukino, who's making her debut today. Still, she's a member of the strongest guild, Sabertooth, so we can expect her to be strong!"

"Kagura…she's almost as strong as you and Erza" Lia told Mira "Also that sword of her's I sense strong magic coming from it…"

"He did say she was top pick for female wizard" Mira said

They watched as the both betted their life on this battle.

"Isn't that a bit overboard?" Juvia wondered

"Those guys from Sabertooth must be sure of their win" Gajeel added

"She's crazy…" Lia muttered as she stared at Yukino, it wasn't that she was weak, but Kagura was on another level.

They watched as Yukino started with pulling a gold key opening the gate of the fish and summoning Pisces, two large eel fish were summoned. Eiran had to grab Happy just so that he wouldn't jump into the arena.

The two fishes headed for Kagura who dodged them easily. "She's fast…" Mira commented

Yukino pulled another key opening gate of the scales and summoning Libra, a woman appeared.

Libra altered the gravity of the arena as Kagura found herself stuck to the ground. But using her own gravity magic she easily jumped high into the sky. Libra then followed with forcing Kagura's gravity to the side which made Kagura hit the head of one of the large status in the arena.

Kagura used her own gravity magic forcing all of Yukino's summons to the ground. "Wow…" Lia said as she watched her gravity magic.

Yukino closed both their gates, before she pulled a third key calling it the 13th gate, a black key.

"Gate of the Serpent Bearer, I open thee! Ophiuchus!" Yukino called as the atmosphere got heavier

A giant snake came forth and filled the entire arena.

"What kind of spirit is that?" Mira asked

They watched the black serpent as it headed straight for Kagura who without even pulling her sword from its sheath sliced the serpent.

Yukino was immediately faced with Kagura right in front of her as the latter finished the battle in one hit.

"So that's why you compared her to Erza…" Laxus said as Gajeel and Juvia stared wide eyed.

"Strong…" Mira said "And that sword…"

"She didn't even pull it…I can't imagine what would happen if she did" Lia said

"And thus ends the second say of the Grand Magic Games!" Chapati announced "Raven Tail gained ten points today giving them first place with 36 points! Sabertooth gained zero points today, but their 20 points from yesterday keeps them in second place! Followed in third place with 19 points Mermaid Heel!"

"In fourth place is Blue Pegasus with 17 point! And tied in fourth Fairy Tail B with 17 points as well" Yajima said

"In sixth is Lamia scale with 15 points! Cool!" Jason said

"One rank down in seventh is Quatro Puppy! Tied with them is Fairy Tail A!" Chapati finished "What kind of battle are in store for us tomorrow, the third day of the tournament?!"


	32. GMG: Day Three!

**6,807 views and counting! O_O Wow! I never thought I would see this many views, thanks guys and I hop you keep enjoying this fic! ^_^**

* * *

Lia sighed as she stood with Laxus in an alley in town, Makarov had told both of them to meet him here during the dinner party, which they had left in the middle of it, the two of them looked up just Makarov arrived with Eiran.

"Good you two are here" Makarov said as he stopped in front of them "Eiran just finished telling me everything and I though both of you especially needed to know about this"

Lia and Laxus's gaze turned to Eiran who had the most serious grim expression they had ever seen, for Lia it was first seeing that but Laxus had seen it before and he knew it didn't mean anything good.

"Does it have to do with why you late?" Laxus asked him as he nodded

"And with what Anise told us?" Lia asked

"Yeah, it what led to everything I found out…" He answered looking between the two "I wanted to hold on the information till we went home, but considering _he's_ right here, it can't be helped"

Makarov looked away, he himself couldn't believe that he stooped so low.

Eiran sighed "We were told by her the day we returned from Tenroujima, that among all the organizations that looked for us during the even years was one that looked for us in secret…" He started "She only found out by accident from her connections…the one that looked were the dark guild Eptá Amartíes! So, I contacted my informants and heard from them after the second month, so I set out to meet them…apparently as far as they knew Eptá Amartíes was looking for a certain someone, just one of the people on the island not the guild as a whole but they had no idea who."

Given that both Lia and Laxus were here, it made them wonder if that person was one of them.

"I looked into it further and…" He hesitated closing his eyes with a troubled expression as he fought with himself over this "Eptá Amartíes is a guild that had existed for almost 14 years, but they only started getting known around 8 years ago, it's elite members included…that's why before then their members could probably pull anything and as long as they weren't seen doing it, they wouldn't be recognized…one of my informants, he can use memory magic, so with his help we managed to find out that they were in the area around Boundary forest twelve years ago"

Lia's eyes widened as Laxus stiffened.

"Back then we had no idea what had caused her death…" Makarov started "Boundary forest is a dangerous place, with nothing to go on despite the investigation it was presumed that she made a mistake and were killed by the monsters" He looked towards Lia whose head was tilted down as her bangs covered her eyes "Sorry, Lia."

Lia shook her head "What for Gramps? It's not your fault" She took a breath before looking up "Mom was human, it was normal to presume she made a mistake, you did everything you could back then" Before she looked towards Eiran.

Eiran had his hands clenched as he looked away, he was angry she could tell, they had found out the cause of Sophia's death after all, they had always thought it strange that Sophia would die in the wilderness.

What they were sure of was when she died her magic levels were real low, and they only managed that when Porlyusica had examined Sophia's body.

If Eptá were around there…they knew one of their mages were capable of stealing magic.

"So, what did you find out after that?" Lia asked him as he breathed before looking back at her, it was easy by now to figure out who they were looking for.

"I started investigating further into them…and checked some important places to see if they were there during certain times…" He started but stopped filled with guilt as he looked at Lia.

It was obvious he was talking about Lia's disappearance eleven years ago.

She smiled at him "What that look for? Like you said they weren't known back then" Lia's eyes turned to Makarov who was giving her the same look as well as Laxus "You guys couldn't have known…"

"I failed as a parent, a parent protects their child no matter what" Makarov said

"You protected us lots, Gramps, I just decided to venture out on my own before I was ready" She told him shrugging, "It's in the past…"

"I tried to find out why they did it, but I found out even more stuff…" Eiran continued as his eyes turned dark "Remember what happened when we were kids? The dark guild that tried taking you, but both Laxus and I delayed them till Sophia arrived?"

Lia and Laxus nodded "That was made by them, and you won't guess who told them that the dark guild had a vendetta against your mother" Eiran continued "A few days before Sophia left on the S rank near boundary forest, do you remember what happened?"

"Ah, my old man got kicked from the guild" Laxus said with no resentment intended for Makarov like he would have before Fantasia seven years ago.

"I never told you why I did it…Why I kicked Ivan…" Makarov started "I found out Ivan ran some deals with dark guilds…that he even accepted some requests that weren't meant for official guilds…and-" he hesitated "The lacrima he implanted in Laxus…he wanted to harness the magic from it when it grew stronger"

Lia held back a gasp, biting her lip, before she looked at Laxus softly, as kids Laxus used to look up to his father, so she knew this broke his heart.

"Sophia was the one to find about this information, while she was looking into some dark guilds" Makarov continued "She found out a long time before told me, but waited to find actual evidence, since she didn't want to hurt Laxus or me, even then she had that S rank job planned for a while just so she can find more evidence in that area"

They were quiet as they took that information in, before Eiran swallowed.

"One of the dark guilds he had dealings with was Eptá Amartíes" Eiran said but they both had already guessed that.

"So he was the one that told them about Sophia going on a job…" Laxus said as Eiran nodded

"And he was the one that told them where Lia usually was in the forest when she wanted to train on her own" Eiran added

"I never thought Ivan would stoop as low as to be directly involved in the death and harm of Fairy Tail members before then" Makarov said "I was still wary after kicking him from the guild…I investigated Raven Tail and kept an eye on him but…I never imagined he had done this much in the past."

"I couldn't believe his guild had become official with him here, I was worried he might be working with Eptá Amartíes again, to watch you" He told Lia

"So you decided to tell us…" She nodded in understanding "So another guild from the Balam alliance…" She had lots of questions and worries in her head, the main concern was that Fairy Tail might get caught in the cross fire if they decided to make a move to get her again.

"I never found out why they want you, but I can guess why they…killed Sophia" Eiran said

"So they didn't have her protecting Lia" Laxus finished as Eiran nodded

"Lia…" Makarov called her "Fairy Tail will fight to protect you, that's how we do it!" She smiled as he had guessed what she was thinking

"Do you think the attack on the infirmary had anything to do with it?" Lia wondered

"No idea" Eiran answered sighing as Makarov thought the same.

"For now, you shouldn't go anywhere alone" He told her "Just in case they decide to make their move"

"Right" She nodded

"It doesn't bring any memories?" Laxus asked her as she shook her head

"It's not even like I know it was there but I can't remember, it's like they don't even exist" She told him "It's frustrating" even if she hid the fact about the dreams, she just felt like they weren't informative and would probably just add fuel to the fire.

"Don't push yourself…Eptá Amartíes…We'll make them regret the day they made enemies of Fairy Tail" Makarov told her

"For now, it's getting late, we should head back to the inn" Lia told them "We still have the games tomorrow"

"Right" Makarov said as he and Laxus shared a look before Lia and Laxus started walking heading back to their inn.

Lia was quiet, as she thought over everything she just found out.

Laxus looked at her, ever since she had come back seven years ago, he could see something different, he just couldn't place it. It was in the way she acted, or maybe it was her eyes.

Lia looked up feeling his gaze on her "Yeah?" She asked him

"Nothing." He answered as he looked away this made her eyebrow twitch

"You said the same thing yesterday" She told him as she walked in front of him and stopped "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

Laxus looked at her wondering the same thing, it was frustrating him. They were both interrupted when they heard a nearby explosion.

"What was that?" Laxus wondered

"Natsu" Lia said as she concentrated on sensing what was happening in that direction before she grimaced "I can sense the four members of Sabertooth's team there too, along with lots of other mages!"

"Don't tell me the idiot picked a fight with them?!" Laxus growled

"I can teleport ahead" She told Laxus "We need to stop him before things get out of hand!"

He was about to nod but stopped "No…" She gave him a questioning look "You heard the old man, you don't go anywhere on your own"

"Seriously?!" She asked him "But right now-"

"It's risky!" He told her not budging

"I am gonna take that risk…" She didn't give him a chance as she teleported away

"That idiot…" He muttered as he started heading in the direction of the explosion. He knew what was different, she used to be much tamer before, not this head strong or rash before.

Lia teleported multiple times as she headed from one point to another, nearing the place where she sensed Natsu; he was fighting a moment ago but now seemed to have stopped just as she saw an explosion of fire and lightning.

Inside the dust cleared to show a woman had stopped Natsu's attack from hitting Sabertooth's master, Jiemma.

"Minerva!" Sabertooth's master called

"My Lady!" Sting called in the back

"Shall we end this evening's entertainment here?" Minerva said

"Minerva, I didn't ask you to step in…" Jiemma told her

"Of course, if this had continued, you would have won, Father." Minerva declared

"Father?" Natsu wondered

"However, the world cares about appearances." She continued "Even though this one came here and attacked you, if the master of Sabertooth annihilated a participant in the Grand Magic Games, it would cause difficultly for all of us."

"I'll tell ya one thing… if anybody's gettin' wiped out, it's him!" Natsu said

"My father has somewhat warmed to this battle, but cannot back down in front of his subordinates. What do you think? Will you allow us to save face?" She told him just as Happy appeared in her hands "If you do, I'll return this kitten to you unharmed."

Happy cried as he was tied up and her in her hands.

"Happy!" Natsu called

"I'm sorry, Natsu!" He cried, just like that he disappeared from Minerva's hands as both her and Natsu stared in surprise, the latter more in worry.

"Even if he attacked, using a hostage is a low blow" Lia said as she untied Happy who was now in her hands, walking forward as she gave Happy to Natsu.

Natsu hugged Happy, as Lia looked around taking in the damage.

"I'm sorry! They caught me at the entrance!" Happy cried

She walked in front of him, before bowing her head.

"I apologize for what he did" She said

"Lia…" Natsu whispered shocked

"We hope you just let this go, and we'll make sure it doesn't happen again" She said

"But they…" He started but Lia stood straight turning a sharp look at him that shut him up

"It's okay then" Minerva said smirking

"Thank you" Lia said as she turned with a hand on Natsu's shoulder she made him walk with her as they left the building.

Once outside, Lia walked a little distance and just as Laxus reached them she stopped and turned to Natsu. "Are you that much of an idiot Natsu?!"

"You don't know what they did! They-" He started

"I don't care, Natsu!" She yelled at him "You realize you almost made everyone's hard work go to waste?!" This made him freeze "Attacking Sabertooth like that…They have every right to ask you be disqualified along with the rest of Fairy Tail! Happy was in danger too because of that, had it been anyone else, I wouldn't have been able to save them!"

She was still working on the spell to teleport others, Someone in Happy's size she could manage.

Natsu, Happy and Laxus stared at Lia, she never got angry, not this much before, yeah she would have lectured Natsu, but she was definitely pissed right now.

Laxus put a hand on her shoulder, it was weird he was the one trying to calm her down, growing up it was always the other way around.

"Why would you do that Natsu?" Laxus asked him

"They kicked Yukino for losing today" Happy told them

"They made her take off her clothes in front of the entire guild and forced her to erase her own mark!" Natsu said shaking

"Even though, if you want to do something about it, do it while in the arena" Lia told him before sighing "It's getting late, we should head back to the inn. Natsu promise me, you're heading straight back there…"

He did, and Laxus and Lia watched him as he walked away holding Happy in his hands.

"So why were you really angry?" Laxus asked her as they started walking in their own direction

"Sabertooth's master…and that woman, Minerva. They were both strong…but the feeling I got off them reminded me of Hades" Lia answered "I think that under any other circumstances…they would have killed Natsu without a second thought."

"Hades, huh?" Laxus said thoughtfully "But what Sabertooth did…"

"We'll pay them back in the arena…" Lia said looking at him, he could easily see the anger in her eyes directed at that guild "If we get first place in tomorrow's games we will pass them in the ranking…I am competing tomorrow" She declared

"Too bad for them then" Laxus said smiling

"Why do I get the feeling your mocking me?" She wondered, he didn't reply but just grinned "Idiot!"

* * *

 **Year x779**

Lia and Eiran sat at the bar beside Sophia, the shouting from Makarov's office was loud, even if the words couldn't be made out, the entire guild knew what this was about.

"Mom, can't you talk to gramps about it?" Lia asked the older woman, who turned to look at her daughter shaking her head

"There's nothing I can do, Master did it to protect the guild" Sophia told her "We just have to trust his judgment"

"Still…even if we didn't like the guy, there had to be another way to deal with this" Eiran said

Sophia sighed, and didn't say anything, Makarov hadn't disclosed the reason why he kicked out Ivan to the guild the only one who knew right now were him and Sophia, and he planned on telling Gildarts, but even though Laxus was S rank she doubted he would tell the teen, even though she had told him it would be better, since it might convince Laxus to accept it.

They all watched as the door to the office was slammed before Laxus stormed outside, leaving the guild hall and slamming its door behind him.

"If you plan on taking a job, I might take an S rank job while you're gone" Sophia told them getting up and walking towards the office to talk to Makarov. She knew those two would probably talk to and try and distract Laxus.

"Not it" Eiran said quickly to Lia, who turned a tiny glare on him "You know the best I can do for him is to spar…talking not so much that's your area of expertise…and honestly a spar isn't what he needs" Lia sighed "You go talk with him and I will find us a job…that would take us a few days away"

"Fine" Lia stood up, not that she could argue with his logic, even if she wasn't that much better than him at talking, but he had a point.

* * *

"We're at the halfway point in the Grand Magic Game. The beginning of the third day!" Chapati announced

"I wonder what kind of passionate dramas we'll see today?" Yajima wondered

"Our guest today is Mr. Lahar, from the magic council." Chapati introduced

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Yajima said

"Thank you for this opportunity." Lahar said

"Mr. Lahar, you're the captain of the enforcement and detention corps…" Chapati said as Lahar nodded

"I won't stand for any shenanigans during the tournament." He announced

"That's the captain for you. He never forgets his duties." Chapati announced "I'm going to announce the competition for this, the third day of the games! The name of the event…is Pandemonium!"

"What does 'Pandemonium' mean?" Romeo asked as he stood with the rest of Fairy Tail

"It's an abode of demons." Carla answered "Like a building where lots of demons lurk…"

"I wonder if they're doing a haunted house…" Makarov wondered "They're walking down a dark path and suddenly…Something like this jumps out!" he said as he made a face scaring Romeo, Sol, Carla and Happy.

"What was that for?" Sol asked him

"I don't think I like 'Pandemonium'…" Happy said as Mavis started crying in fear

"There will be on participant from each guild. Please choose your reprehensive!" Chapati announced

"You still want to go?" Laxus asked Lia

"If it ends up fighting demons, wouldn't Mira better for it?" Juvia wondered

"I think I should be doing it!" Gajeel said

"I told you what happened last night" Lia told them "I can't bow down now; I am bringing this win!"

Mira seeing the look in her eyes nodded, besides she understood where Lia was coming from "Ok, Good luck!" She told Lia

As Lia joined the field, so did Erza from Fairy Tail A, Millianna seeing Erza had joined, decided to join as well to represent Mermaid Heel.

Raven Tail's Obra, the blue guy and the one who had the ability to steal magic, entered as well, followed by Hibiki from Blue Pegasus deciding to join.

Orga decided to represent Sabertooth, as Jura entered for Lamia Scale, and finally Novali for Quatro puppy.

"All of the participants have been selected! From Sabertooth, Orga! From Lamia Scale, Jura! From Blue Pegasus, Hibiki! From Raven Tail, Obra! From Mermaid Heel, Millianna! From Quatro Puppy, Novali! From Fairy Tail A, Erza! From Fairy Tail B, Lia! These are our eight competitors!" Chapati announced as the crowd cheered.

A magic circle appeared in the sky, and from it a floating dark castle descended.

"What is that?!" Erza wondered

"Wow…" Millianna said

"They're taking the event's name seriously" Lia said

Hibiki started using his magic as he analyzed it.

The castle floated in front of them with a large path connecting with the ground.

"Pandemonium, a temple haunted by evil monsters!" The pumpkin wearing ref told them

"Haunted by monsters, he says?" Jura wondered

"That's the idea-kabo." He continued "There are 100 monsters inside this temple. That being said, they're actually magic manifestations that we created, so everyone can relax. There's no danger of you being attacked. The monsters are D, C, B, A, S! Those are five levels of battle power the monsters are divided into. This how it breaks down." He said showing the screen with the number of monsters of each class.

"Incidentally…if you're curious about just how strong the D-class monsters are…" He told them as a screen appeared with a metallic like monster crashing through a pillar easily "Ones like these and ones even stronger, 100 of them wandering around the temple…That's Pandemonium-Kabo!"

"Even though he says they're just magical manifestations, if you get attacked by them, you're hurt for real, right?" Happy wondered

"Will Erza and Lia be okay?" Carla wondered

"I'd like to think that those two will be alright, but…" Romeo said

"But they are magic manifestations…" Eiran said smirking "If Lia or Erza goes first, it's over"

The two said women shared a look down both thinking the same thing.

For Erza she would get rid of the monsters easily, for Lia, since they were magic manifestations, she could easily destroy the magic manifesting them.

"Please note that as the class of the monsters goes up, their fighting strength increases exponentially. The S-class monster is so strong that there's no guarantee even one of the 10 great wizard saints can defeat it-kabo." The ref told them "In order, each of you will choose the number of monsters to battle. It's called your 'right to challenge'. "

"Right to challenge?" Erza wondered

"For example, if you choose three monsters, three of them will appear inside the temple. The person who chooses them enters the temple alone. If the players successfully destroys them, he or she gets three points. The next player then has the right to challenge up to 97 of the remaining monsters. And so on and so on, until there are zero monsters left! Alternatively, if everyone runs out of magic power, the game is over at that point." He explained

"It's like a counting game." Millianna noted

"That's right!" The ref told her "Assessing the situation when your turn comes around becomes important! However, as I mentioned before, the monsters are ranked. Whether the player uses their right to challenge one or five, the monsters appear randomly."

"In other words, you need a strategy to avoid running into the S-class monster, right?" Hibiki said

"If it's random, having a strategy like that won't do you any good." Orga noted

"Not true. Between probability theory and y Archive, strategy will work to some extent." Hibiki said

"Irrespective of the monster's rank, you'll get one point for each monster you destroy. Once you enter the temple, you can't exit until you've succeeded." The ref told them

"what if we go down while inside?" Lia wondered

"The number of points you've earned during your turn stays as is, but the number of destroys you've had that run goes to zero, and you're out." He answered

"Alright, let's decide on the order" He told them as a box appeared in his hands "Please draw your lots."

Erza drew first followed by Lia. When Lia saw Erza had drawn number one and she looked at her own to find number eight she sighed "It's over…" Lia noted, this made the other's look at her "We're not going to even get a turn!"

"Sorry, Lia!" Erza told her as Lia waved her off "I thought it came down to the luck of the draw"

"Luck of the draw? I don't know about that…" The ref told her "More than the order of battle, pacing yourself and situational judgment are important in this game."

"Your rules didn't account for Erza though." Lia told him "Like I said, we're not going to even get a turn"

"This isn't a game anymore." Erza said as she walked forward "All 100 will be my opponents! I exercise my tight to challenge…100!"

As everyone stared at her in shock, Lia shook her head with an amused smile, even Erza's teammate laughed at everyone's expressions.

Erza had just shoved the game's rules into the trash. Even her own guildmates but Eiran stared wide eyed at her, he had been with enough missions with her to know, she would go this overboard.

"Um…You're challenging 100?! That's impossible! It isn't set up for one person to destroy them all!" The ref tried to reason with Erza

"I don't care." She told him as she entered the castle.

The entire arena watched with anticipation as Erza entered the castle, as the monsters appeared she requiped into her Heaven's armor.

With one attack she destroyed 22 monsters before she reequipped again into Black Wing Armor and destroyed even more. Followed by the Flame Empress armor to fight against the monster that shot fire, along with the sword from her sea empress armor to counter.

As she destroyed more monsters bringing down their numbers down to 72. She kept requiping and slashing through the monsters as well as destroying the castle. Almost everyone was shocked when brought the numbers down to half.

She was tired and injured by then as she faced against the first one of the A rank monsters, weaving through all of the remaining monster she finally stopped as the tiniest monster remained, although it was the S class one.

The monster's size changed and the battle moved inside the castle again, Erza kept fighting relentlessly despite her injures and depleted magic reserves.

The crowd along with her guild mates cheered her as she emerged victorious.

"U-Unbelievable! Amazingly, Erza has obliterated 100 monsters all by herself! Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail A has scored a resounding victory! Without any question, a tremendous win!" Chapati announced "Is this the true strength of the guild that was called the most powerful seven years ago?!"

As the castle disappeared and Erza was transported outside the crowds broke into cheers.

"Erza!" Lucy and the others called as they came running towards her

"Guys…Sorry. It took longer than I thought it would." Erza told them but was surprised when they were in her face, the boys asking her to fight them as the girls cried.

"Don't crowd her like that" Lia told them as she joined them and put a hand on Erza's shoulder as she casted her magic recovery spell "Consider it a gift for that spectacular win!"

"Thank you! You better win too" Erza told her

"Of course!" Lia replied with a grin.

The crowd cheered for Fairy Tail and for Erza, the crowd was for the first time in union as they cheered Fairy Tail instead of booing or insulting the guild.

The rest of the contestants waited, till the ref walked towards them. "After some discussion, it's been decided that the other seven teams need to be ranked, so this is somewhat of a drag, but a simple game as been prepared." He told them as a device floated beside him

"What is this?" Novali asked

"A magic power finder! In short, MPF!" He informed them

"A device to measure magic…" Jura said

"Exactly. When this machine is hit with magic, the magic power will be displayed as a numeral value. Those values will be ranked, from high to low." The ref told them

Lia blinked as he explained to them, and fought the grin that wanted to form.

"A simple test of strength, huh?" Hibiki said from beside her "I'm at kind of a disadvantage here…By the way, Lia, are you free tonight?"

"I guess that spell would give best results…but, I haven't used it with lots of people around before…" Lia muttered to herself as was deciding on what spell to use, too lost in thought to even hear Hibiki.

"Alright, let's begin! We'll go with the order that was decided before-kabo!" The ref told them

Millianna was the first to go using her kitten blast and scoring 365.

"The value is 365! But that being said, without a benchmark to compare it to, we don't know if this is a high score or not…" Chapati stated

"We Rune Knights also use the MPF as part of our training. This number is a high score." Lahar commented "A level high enough to make someone a captain."

"Then that's an impressive figure, isn't it?!" Chapati said

The next to go was Novali getting a score of 124, after was Hibiki who scored 95 before falling to his knees crying.

Next was Obra from Raven Tail, Lia stared at him with a skeptical look when he scored a 4. Next was Sabertooth's Orga with a black lightning attack he scored 3825, shocking everyone.

Before taking a mic and started to sing as Jura's turn came.

"Do you mind if I do this seriously?" Jura wondered as he walked towards

"Go right ahead-Kabo!" The ref told him

Jura gathered his magic as the entire arena started shaking from the pressure, before a huge explosion broke from the earth hitting the MPF as it died down it showed a score of 8544.

"So he really was taking it easy on me…" Lia muttered nervously before smirking "Time to break a record!"

"And our final challenger is Lia Sephiran of Fairy Tail B!" Chapati announced

The ref turned to look for Lia when she didn't walk forward only to find her a distance away.

"Sorry, but could everyone please move behind me?!" She yelled towards them, she was glad when they all did with no complaint led by a squeaking ref. "Alright…" She closed her eyes and took a breath raising her hands up.

A small magic circle appeared under her as another much larger appeared in the sky above the MPF with it at its center.

"What's happening?!" Chapati wondered as yellow rays of magic started flowing towards the large magic circle starting from the ground.

All the mages could feel as the magic around them was being sucked into those rays, it didn't need a sensitive sensing to feel it.

Venus grinned she had watched Lia use that spell, it wasn't ready for battle since it took some time to charge, but because of it they now had another clearing in the forest.

The rays gathered at the circle forming a magic ring with the golden light intensifying "Caelum Poena!" Lia casted as the magic from the ring blasted down in a wide radius with Lia right at the edge of it. Everyone were amazed or shocked or both at the amount of magic power even more, when it cleared to show the MPF destroyed and a score of 9999 showing.

"O-Oh my goodness! The MPF is destroyed! The counter's stopped! What is this guild?!" Chapati announced "It's a one-two finish for the competition part! Can anyone stop Fairy Tail now?!"

"We're unstoppable! We will always rise, more over when it's tough, we refuse to bow down to anyone, It's because we're Fairy Tail!" Lia called out loudly for everyone as the crowd broke into cheers.

"And now, I'll announce the current standings of the third day of the Grand Magic Games!" Chapati announced as the everyone went towards their teams.

Lia was pulled into a hug by Mira and Juvia as soon as she joined them as they congratulated her.

"It wasn't much really…" She said scratching her cheek "I just got lucky the game was what it was…"

"Still, good job ginger, now we're in second place!" Gajeel told her with a smirk

"And controlling that much magic is pretty impressive" Laxus told her with a smile himself, as Lia blushed even more.

"As before, Raven Tail is in first place! And now in second place, Fairy Tail B!" The crowds broke into cheers as Chapati announced, "in third place, one rank down, Sabertooth! Tied In fourth place, Mermaid Heel! And tied for fourth, moving up two ranks, Fairy Tail A team!" The crowds broke into loud cheers again "In sixth place, Lamia Scale! And you can see the last place teams for yourself."

In seventh was Blue Pegasus and in eighth was Quatro Puppy. "Alright, the battle part of the third day of the Grand Magic Games is about to begin!" Chapati announced

"I'm looking forward to the battle part!" Yajima said as Lahar agreed

"In the first match, it's Millianna of Mermaid Heel…vs. Semas of Quatro Puppy!" Chapati announced.

They watched as Millianna was being hit at first and receiving lots of damage, before she turned things to her advantage; beating Semas and winning her guild ten points.

"Next, the second match for the battle part! From Sabertooth, the minstrel who sings who the red moon…Rufus Lohr!" Chapati announced as the girls in crowd cheered and broke into squeals.

Lia herself focused even more, now that she knew his magic was somewhat similar to her's she was interested to see what he can do in an actual battle.

"Versus Holy Night Eve of Blue Pegasus…Eve Tilm!" Chapati announced as the girls cheered even more

"Venus is gonna be cheering her throat out" Lia muttered with a smile as the said girl herself watched even more intently.

"You noticed too…" Mira said as she and Lia shared a look

"These two clashed during the competition of the first day, and now they'll collide in the battle on the third day!" Chapati said as the match started

Eve attacked first but Rufus used his magic so just his memory got hit, Rufus even used one of Eve's memory of Ichiya to distract him before hitting him from behind.

Rufus gathered his magic as the sky darkened before using his night of the fallen stars on the snow wizard.

But a snow copy was hit instead, Rufus started a counter attack but was stopped by Rufus who used his memory make magic.

As the heat in the arena rose and molten rocks rose around Eve before he was hit by a strong fire spell, and fell defeated.

"Eve fought a good fight, but he fell short of Rufus! The winner is Rufus of Sabertooth! He really is strong!" Chapati announced as the crowds cheered

"Strong…" Mira agreed

"Oh, Lia?!" Juvia called to the smirking girl

"I want to fight him!" She announced, she was guessing this was probably what Natsu always felt when he challenged everyone strong, but she was interested to see how her magic would fair against his.

"Looks like Natsu is contagious…" Laxus muttered as Gajeel agreed

"You two are no better" Lia said with a scoff just as the next match was announced

"Now for the third match, Fairy Tail B's Laxus Dreyar…vs Raven Tail's Alexei!" Chapati announced as they all frowned

"Raven Tail…" Mira muttered

"Looks like the management is milking all they can from what's happening between them and us" Lia added before her frown deepened as she looked at the rest of where Raven Tail stood. "Something feels off!"

Laxus turned to her "Magically…from their balcony I feel they they're there but not there at the same time…like their magic is fainter somehow" She explained "Be careful"

"Don't worry, I won't be losing those points to them" He told them before he headed down

Laxus and Alexei faced down in the arena "There's been bad blood between father and son guilds since day one, right, Mr. Yajima?" Chapati said as Yajima nodded

"Lia, Master wants to know if you sense anything" The voice was in her head, as Warren spoke to her telepathically

"There's definitely something going on, I am still trying to figure it out though" Lia told him,

"Alright, we'll keep extra watch on our end too" Warren replied before he cut the connection

"Both of you, step forward!" Chapati instructed

Lia bit her lip as she sensed whatever was surrounding Raven tail's balcony surround the rest of the arena, she could sense Laxus down there and Alexei too, it's just like there was a curtain above it, and she had no idea what was it for.

"Let the match begin!" Chapati signaled the beginning of the match.

Laxus was the first to be hit and thrown backwards, making everyone's eyes widen. Laxus skid backwards, but Alexei kicked him before releasing a dark magic beam that hit Laxus straight on.

"How…?" Mira wondered

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" Gajeel said

Lia frowned, that beam had no magic power behind it what so ever, not enough for it to have hurt Laxus, hell even the Laxus and Alexei she was sensing fighting was wrong.

Laxus kept getting hit by Alexei, and not fighting back what so ever.

Unknown to everyone under the illusion of the fight was the real Laxus and Alexei standing there.

"What the hell is this?" Laxus asked

"A kind of Hallucination Magic." Alexei said "Everyone around us is talking about this right now. They can't see our true bodies. They can't hear us either. What they see are phantoms fighting. It looks real, doesn't it? Not one person realizes it's an illusion. The crowd is watching images of the mighty Laxus as helpless as a child."

"You really sure no one will realize it?" Laxus questioned as he stole a glance at Lia, this was probably what she sensed and wouldn't take her long to put two and two together.

Alexei chuckled "we already know how to deal with _her_ , Sophia's brat"

Lia's eyes widened as she realized it, it was an illusion, and double layered at that since under one she could sense Laxus and Ivan than under another was the rest of Raven Tail hiding.

Her vision blurred suddenly as she felt her knees drop, the only thing supporting her was her grip on the railing. Someone was trying to steal her magic.

"Lia!" Mira crouched beside Lia as the girl crouched breathing hard "What's wrong?!"

"Oi, ginger!" Gajeel called, but Lia was too busy fighting to keep her magic to tell them.

"Why is Laxus on the ropes like this?!" Makarov wondered in the stands

"Something is definitely wrong" Eiran agreed as Warren checked in with Bisca, then the Thunder tribe and Lisanna.

Under the illusion though were Laxus and 'Alexei' still talking, Laxus had noticed how Lia fell suddenly, as his jaw clenched "It seems that even your guild idolizes you. I wonder how your compatriots feel while watching this…" Alexei told him

"Hey come on, I've got no idea what this is about." Laxus told him annoyed

"About?" Alexei said

"What's the point of winning an illusory battle?" Laxus asked him

"Exactly. Our goal isn't 'victory' . This hallucination is just camouflage." Alexei told him "An illusion is an illusion. He end result can be altered as we like."

"End result, you say?" Laxus wondered as he turned to the cheers coming from Natsu and the rest of Fairy Tail team A.

The tides of the illusionary battle turned as 'Laxus' took control and was starting to gain ground, before Warren could contact Lia.

"Yes! That ought to settle it!" Makarov cheered "It looks like we were worried for nothing. Warren!" As Warren started contacting everyone, who were keeping watch.

"Lia…" Warren contacted her as the end "Hey, Lia!"

"What's wrong?" Eiran asked the telepathy wizard

"She's not answering" Warren told him

"Contact Mira, find out what's happening" Makarov told him as Eiran's eyes zoomed in on where Fairy Tail team B were they were huddled together, but he couldn't see what exactly was going on from here.

And just like that the tides of the battle turned again, as Laxus was the one getting beat again.

Mira was still holding Lia worried when Warren contacted her and asked what was happening. "Lia just dropped suddenly she's breathing hard too" Mira informed him

"I-Illusion…" Lia muttered, she needed to tell them about Laxus, she gathered what strength she had and cast her magic recovery enchantment on herself, this wasn't the first time she had gone against a magic stealing wizard, and she wasn't going to go down easily, she pushed herself on a standing position as her eyes narrowed on where she sensed the real Laxus where not the one in the illusionary fight "the fight we're seeing is an illusion, Laxus is facing Ivan, and the rest of Raven tail is there too, but they're hiding under another illusion"

"What?!" Gajeel said shocked as Mira told Warren what Lia just said

"What about you?" Juvia asked her

" _that guy_ is trying to steal my magic!" Lia said through gritted teeth, as Mira told Warren about that as well.

"Is this the 'end result' you were talkin' about?" Laxus asked annoyed

"Depending on your negotiations with us, it's possible that we would even let you win this." Alexei told him

As Laxus threw his coat to the ground "we've got nothing to talk about. The illusions don't mean a damn thing." Laxus said as sparks started appearing around him "I'm gonna finish this by taking out your real self right here and now."

"That's impossible!" A voice said as the four other members of Raven tail's team appeared.

"Reality is harsh" Nalpudding said

"Not even you can defeat Raven Tail's elite all at the same time. And there's one more thing." Alexei said as he removed his mask, revealing himself as Ivan "You know how strong I am, don't you…my foolish son?"

"I figured as much…" Laxus said glaring "…useless old man!"

"Makarov would die before he coughed it up. But you're different. Would you tell us the location of Lumen Histoire?" Ivan asked him

"What are you talking about?" Laxus asked him

"You don't have to play dumb. I'm sure Makarov has told you." Ivan told him

"Actually, I don't know." Laxus replied

"No. you must know." Ivan said

"Well, even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Laxus retorted

"It's an illusion?!" Eiran questioned as Warren nodded

"Ivan…" Makarov muttered "There's not much we can do, especially if they can layer illusions, they will get away and make it seem like we're the ones at fault if we act with haste."

"But why are they after Lia's magic?" Warren wondered

"They probably knew about her sensing, and wanted to stop her from finding out" Mavis said before turning to the battle, as Makarov nodded.

"Laxus!" he called before raising his hand into the familiar sign that Laxus came up with as a child. They couldn't do much on their end, they would trust that Laxus can win this even against Raven Tail's team.

A moment later, Lia stopped struggling as the tug war with her magic ended. She smiled as she sensed Laxus taking care of Raven Tail's members, just as the illusion broke showing Laxus standing with the members of Raven Tail unconscious.

The crowd and most of Fairy Tail were shocked as they found out the truth, before Laxus was declared the winner and Raven Tail were disqualified.

"I can't believe he did it!" Gajeel said as Mira cheered beside him

"Are you okay now, Lia?" Juvia asked Lia who nodded, the crowd was cheering and awing at the power Fairy Tail was showing.

"Just a little exhausted, but he didn't get far with taking my magic" Lia told her, as they watched Rune knights take the Raven Tail members, when Lia saw Laxus talking with Ivan before he went into the hall "I will go check on Laxus"

"Take good care of him, Lia!" Mira told her with a wink as Lia groaned walking away while hiding her blush.

It wasn't hard for her to find him, she used her sense, until she walked to a deserted hall where he was standing leaning against the wall, lost in though.

* * *

 **Year x779**

Lightning hit another tree, and what was left of it laid destroyed on the ground. Lia sighed; she had no idea what to do. She didn't think she ever saw Laxus this furious.

She was leaning against one of the trees behind Laxus as he made to punch, kick or throw lightning at anything in his path, there was even one unlucky Vulcan that just happened to pass a few moments ago.

Laxus released a lightning roar clearing everything in its way, before he stood there taking deep breaths.

"Here" She held out her hand with lightning sparking on it, he didn't say anything as he swallowed it. "Did the taste improve?" He didn't answer her

She sometimes wondered why they thought she was good at talking over things.

"Laxus…Gramps is just angry now" Lia started tentative, for all honest Ivan always crept her, but Laxus looked up to the guy, he was his father after all "Your father is part of Fairy Tail, whatever is going on will probably pass at some point and then will gramps will let him back in"

Laxus still didn't say anything, after all he could hear the doubt in Lia's voice, they both knew that wasn't going to happen.

He was shocked though when she hugged him "Honestly, I don't know what to say, but…we're here if you want to talk about it, you can drag Eiran into a spar if you really need to let out steam, and just because you're dad isn't part of the guild anymore, doesn't mean he will stop being your dad. And Gramps even if you're angry with him, he's still family" She took a breath "Family isn't just a guild mark or blood, it's feelings that connect us. And that's why we all care about each other."

"Yeah" He said quietly

As someone whistled, she broke the hug "You really did a number on this place" Eiran said grinning as he walked towards them. "I take it; it was a pretty loud 'talk'"

He yelped as his legs got buried in the ground and he was sinking "Lia!" He growled as she smirked.

* * *

 **Year x791**

She didn't say anything as she leaned on the wall beside him. "Body enchant: Spissus Rejuvenate!" She casted as she touched his arm

"Should you really be using magic right now?" He asked her, since he was sure that blue guy from before had tried taking her magic. She shrugged

"I recover fast. So…" She started

"He just wanted some information" Laxus said "he didn't care about winning or losing or anything else, he just wanted some information about Fairy Tail…idiot old man"

"Then he just lost more than a game" Lia told Laxus "if information and power was all he cared about than he really is an idiot, that lost a chance at seeing his amazing son grow up to be a splendid wizard, and the chance to be part of a real family" Laxus was shocked at her words before smiling a small smile.

"Family isn't just a guild mark or blood, right?" He asked her "I think you had a point back then, that kinda of went over my head"

"That's not even funny since you're almost a foot taller than me" She told him with a laugh

"That's why it probably needed some time to reach me, shorty!" He replied as her eyebrow twitched.

They both didn't even notice the three thunder tribe members hiding around the corner as they watched them, or the smirking faces they were making.

Outside in the arena "Well, that result was an embarrassment, but let's move on to our fourth match, the last match of the day-kabo!" The pumpkin head referee announced

"From Fairy Tail A, Wendy Marvel!" Chapati announced "Versus Cheria Blendy of Lamia Scale!"

"Oh, this is going to be tough" Venus said up in the stands

"Why?" Lisanna asked her

"Cheria and Wendy use Sky magic" Venus told them

"What?!" A good portion of the guild asked her

"What kind of sky magic?" Mavis asked her, since she was sensing the magic coming from the other girl

"God slayer" Venus told them "Everyone was surprised when we found out she taught herself that magic, Anise told me about it."

Just as she entered the arena, Cheria tripped and fell down, followed by Wendy who was going to check on her but tripped too.

The match began with Wendy using her enchantments on herself, following an attack that was dodged by Cheria, than Cheria followed with an attack as she released her black wind, but Wendy dodged it.

Cheria was the one to land the first hit, but Wendy retaliated right after. Before Wendy used her roar and Cheria used her Howl and both met blowing the air in the arena.

"Sky god slayer…" Venus said

"God slaying magic versus Dragon slaying magic…" Raine said

"And that girl is standing completely fine, while Wendy…" Lisanna added

Cheria released another attack that hit Wendy, the latter kept trying to fight but Cheria kept having the upper hand.

She stopped though when Wendy started eating air, so Cheria started eating as well. Before Wendy used a secret art, that hit Cheria head on, the said girl fell to the ground.

Just as Wendy was about to declared winner, Cheria stood up as she healed herself. Wendy breathed hard and was almost completely exhausted but refused to give up. Which led to Cheria preparing to use her secret art.

"She dodged it!" Romeo noted

"No…It missed her!" Makarov said

"Cheria can heal herself, but just injuries, not her magic reserves or her stamina and energy" Venus commented

"Wendy's the opposite. She can't heal herself with her magic, but she can restore another person's strength" Carla continued

"I see…Then…" Happy said

"…She revived her opponent's physical strength?!" Romeo wondered

"And Cheria missed because she overshot her attack…" Sol said

Wendy went for another attack, followed by Cheria, as the two sides kept fighting, both not giving up till the time ran out and the match ended in a draw, both teams gaining five points.

And the third day ended, with Fairy Tail B taking the lead with 35 point, followed by Saber Tooth with 34 point, in third Mermaid Heel with 32 point, in fourth was Fairy Tail A with 27 point followed by Lamia Scale with 26 point, then in sixth was Blue Pegasus followed By Quatro Puppy.


	33. Ryuuzetsu Land

"Cheers!" Loud voices said as Fairy Tail celebrated, both teams had jumped in points and even B team was ranking first now, everyone's spirits were as high as they can.

"I feel bad. Even though Erza had an easy victory, I didn't win…" Wendy said

"What are you saying?! You did a good job!" Carla cheered her

"You surprised everyone." Panther lily told her as he posed for Reedus to draw him

"Yeah! You were great, Wendy!" Levy agreed

"And you even managed to pull that secret art! And how you made her miss…It was a great fight!" Venus told her

Lucy, Lisanna stood with Erza "At any rate, you've got amazing recuperative strength, Erza." Lucy told the red head

"That's thanks to Wendy and Porlyusica" Erza said

"Even with their power, Elfman hasn't recovered…" Mira stated as she joined the conversation

"It's pathetic…" Lisanna said

"He's probably taking his sweet time cause Ever is staying with him" Lia said as she joined them

"Speaking of…Lia you disappeared with Laxus after the fight…" Mira stated with a glint in her eyes

"Is that right?" Lisanna wondered as the two sisters flocked her

"I-It's not like that…" Lia stuttered blushing

"Booze barrel surfing!" Natsu shouted as he rode a wooden plate on three barrels. Lia, Lisanna and Mira got out of the way at the right time, on the other side of the table, Gajeel, Wendy and Carla weren't so lucky, as Natsu crashed into them.

"Thank you Natsu" Lia muttered as she escaped the sisters questioning.

Gray followed before crashing into the bar and his clothes somehow fell to the ground, than Erza who crashed as well.

"The humans in this guild really keep surprising me, is pain really that fun for them?" Loki asked as he appeared beside Raine

"When did you come here?" Raine asked him

"I doubt they even think how it's gonna end…" Eiran said

Everyone laughed and cheered and Natsu even tried to make Lucy ride the barrels too. It was then Levy suggested they go to a pool.

"A pool?" Erza wondered

"Is there one nearby?" Lucy asked her

"It's a summer resort known all throughout Fiore; Ryuuzetsu Land!" Levy informed them

"It's pretty famous, I've been there once, it was awesome" Venus told them

"We gotta go for sure!" Natsu said

"Since it's so hot!" Gray added

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed

"Gray, clothes" Lia told him as he cursed and went to look for them. The rest of the guild joined them as they all decided to go too.

"But is it okay to not tell Master where we're going?" Lucy wondered

"I don't think he'll mind" Eiran said

"Besides Master took Laxus with him to someplace." Erza told her

Mira joined them with hands steering Lia "In that case, you should go tell them, Lia!"

"Wait, what?!" Lia asked her surprised

As Eiran started to go after Lia and Mira, Lisanna stopped him. And like that Lia found herself standing outside, she sighed resigned to her fate and went to find the two.

"I really don't think she should have gone alone" Eiran said as Mira walked towards him and Lisanna.

"Don't worry, I doubt they will be that far away" Mira assured him as he sighed and hoped she was right.

Lia eventually tracked the two to the town square; with them was a crying Mavis.

"What happened?" she asked joining the three

"Lia!" Makarov said distressed

"She just started crying!" Laxus told her equally distressed.

Lia sighed before crouching next to Mavis "First master…want to go to the pool?" She asked her with a cheerful smile making Mavis stop crying but she was still sniffling "We could go to Ryuuzetsu Land, I hear there's all kinds of water games and slides there"

"Really?" She looked at Lia with doe eyes

"Yup" Lia told her and Mavis perked up, jumping to her feet

"Lets go!" She cheered leading the way as Lia chuckled standing up

"You two coming, right?" Lia asked the two men "I actually came to tell you that the entire guild was going there"

"Yeah, if it will keep the first happy" Makarov said "Laxus you're coming too, to help watch over the first" Laxus grumbled as Lia chuckled.

"Hey! What are you still standing there for?! Hurry up!" Mavis shouted at them from a distance, before the started walking after her.

* * *

"We're here!" Lucy yelled as she, Venus, Raine, Wendy and Erza entered the water park.

"It's so spacious!" Wendy awed as Erza stretched

"This feels great" Erza said

"There are so many people here, even though it's nighttime" Raine noted

"It's a popular spot, especially with the grand magic games going on, lots of people are visiting Crocus" Venus said

All of the girls were wearing their swimsuits; Venus wore a two piece lilac bikini with the top spaghetti straps and held by a ring in the middle and the bottoms connected by two rings one on each side, with her hair down.

Raine's was an emerald colored bikini with the top being halter styled and above the bottoms was side tied short skirt and her hair in a braid.

"They've managed to build quite an awesome place in those seven years!" Wendy said as they started heading inside already seeing most of their guild mates there.

"Dad, aren't you gonna swim?" Romeo asked as he walked with Sol towards Macao and Wakaba, who were having extreme nosebleeds and muttering to themselves.

"At this rate, they will end up going to the hospital instead" Sol muttered

Venus and Wendy had been separated from Erza and the others, when they ran into Cheria and Anise "Wendy!" Cheria called before she and the older woman reached them.

Anise wore a halter styled two piece dark blue bikini with the top halter style and her green hair gathered in a ponytail.

"Cheria! Anise!" Venus said "Anise, I didn't know you came to Crocus!"

"It wasn't in the plan till a couple of hours ago" Anise informed her before giving a meaningful look to Cheria, who smiled back nervously.

"Wendy, today's fight was great." Cheria told the younger girl "Are your injuries okay?"

"Yes, all thanks to you!" Wendy told her

"There you go being all polite again." Cheria noted

"Ah, it's a habit" Wendy told her nervously

"Can we go play, Anise?" Cheria asked Anise

"Go ahead" Anise replied as Cheria cheered taking Wendy's hand and the two ran off.

"So why come suddenly?" Venus asked curios

"Well, after Cheria's stunt today with using a secret art, she's benched and I'm taking her place" Anise explained as Venus frowned "It could have been real dangerous"

"Hmm, but no harm was done, and she and Wendy became friends" Venus countered

"Still…She needs to know that pulling a dangerous stunt like that in a friendly fight is wrong" Anise replied.

Lucy, Raine and Erza walked around as they explored, even running into Risley from Mermaid heels and Jenny from Blue Pegasus before those two headed off.

"Wait…" Lucy sweat dropped along with Raine as they looked to the side to one of the pools, where Aquarius, Virgo and Freyja were lounging in the pool, and both Virgo and Freyja were wearing bikinis styled after their regular clothes.

"Ah, this is heaven." Aquarius said as she sat on a swim float while Virgo was in the water using her own swim float to stay on the surface, Freyja lounged on a swim bed.

"This is fun!" Virgo agreed as Freyja hummed in agreement while enjoying a cocktail drink.

"Hey! Who said you could come here?" Lucy asked them

"When did you even come here?" Raine asked as Aquarius frightened Lucy.

"A few minutes ago, we never go to resorts besides I haven't seen Virgo and Aquarius in over a century" Freyja told her before glaring "Any objections?"

"N-Nope" Raine replied with a nervous smile, just as Lucy flew off when Aquarius tried to make a water slide.

"I can't find her yet" Eiran muttered as he walked towards Lisanna and Mira with his arms crossed. He was wearing blue swimming shorts.

"You should stop worrying, Lia is fine" Lisanna told him as she walked behind him turning his head towards Mira "Now focus on getting your crush's attention" She whispered the last part.

At that moment Jenny pulled Mira's bikini top and Eiran went red before sagging and falling backwards twitching.

"Mira!" Lisanna called as Mira took her revenge on Jenny, before Lisanna turned to look at Eiran on the ground laughing nervously. "Oops!"

At that time, Lucy, Erza and Raine were lounging. "By the way, Lucy, Raine…" Erza started

"What is it, Erza?" Lucy asked her while Raine was quiet and blushing at the attention they were getting

"These guys are in the way" Erza stated, the three girls were surrounded by the trimen and Ichiya.

"Try telling that to them instead" Lucy replied

Ichiya and Hibiki flirted with Erza, Eve with Lucy and Ren with Raine, before they started cheering after Ichiya till Erza stopped them.

"Hold on!" Erza yelled at them, then turning to Hibiki "What was with the MPF score today? Try harder!" Then turned to Ren "and you already have Sherry!" Followed by Eve, who was covered in bandages "Don't play around when you're so seriously wounded!" then she started at Ichiya, before turning around "Let's go, Lucy, Raine!"

This caused Ichiya to hold her bikini top begging her to scold him "This is a legendary swimsuit!" Erza stated kicking him away.

"Legendary?" Lucy wondered

"I always carry it with me just in case." She told them "It looks great, has a glossy finish, and stays that way even if I happen to get into a fight. A great piece of work!" that's when Lucy and Raine noticed it was fraying.

When the trimen started cheering after Ichiya again, Erza kicked all of them, sending them flying.

A few seconds later while Venus was walking with Anise while talking, they heard a shout from above before Eve hit Venus both of them falling into the pool.

"Venus!" Anise called but before she could act, she was pulled by Lyon who was talking about showing Gray how to treat a woman right.

Lucy, Erza and Raine walked by one of the pools only for Lucy to be startled when she saw Mavis's face under water.

"Yay! The pool's so much fun!" Mavis cheered splashing out of the water. Beside the pool were Makarov and a bored Laxus, and on a lounge chair was Lia.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked them

"'what', you say?" Makarov said

"Just what it looks like." Laxus told her

"We're keeping her company" Makarov said gesturing to Mavis.

"I found her with Gramps and Laxus, so I invited her to come with us" Lia told her.

Lia was wearing a polka dotted red bikini with the top halter styled and bottom tied from the side.

As Erza, Lucy and Raine noticed Jellal in the next pool, Freed and Bickslow walked to the trio watching Mavis.

"Laxus, you're gonna swim too?" Bickslow wondered

Lia hummed noticing all the people present, before her eyes had a glint in them "Oi, Bicks!" she called as she walked to him before starting to whisper in his ears. Laxus watched them as his jaw clenched and looked away.

Bickslow grinned as Lia retreated grinning herself "Yeah, let's do it!" he told her, his eyes sharing the glint in hers'.

Before the two turned to Freed who took a step back seeing the look they were giving him. "What…" He started as Lia somehow requiped a rope into her hands.

Meanwhile, Erza was with Jellal, Lucy had wondered on her own and Raine had turned around lost in thought and thus didn't notice as Lia and Bickslow tied up Freed or when the latter carried Freed away.

Lia walked towards Raine "Raine, can you do me a favor?" Lia asked her as the latter snapped back to reality

"Sure, what is it?" Raine asked

"I kinda forget something at the top of the love love slider" Lia told her "But I don't was to leave the first with Gramps and Laxus all by herself, so you think you can get it for me?" Raine agreed and was well on her way as Lia sat between Makarov and Laxus, soaking her legs in the pool where Mavis was swimming.

"Should I be worried about what you're planning with Bickslow?" Makarov asked her

"Nope" Lia replied smiling sweetly as Makarov sweat dropped feeling sorry for Freed. Lia though turned her attention to Laxus when she noticed he was grumpy.

"Watching over the first isn't that bad, is it?" she told him, but he huffed looking away, confusing her "What happened?"

She was sure he was just bored when she went to talk to Bickslow, so she had no idea how it escalated to annoyance.

"Is it because what we did to Freed?" She asked him

Laxus himself wasn't sure why he was annoyed when she went to talk to Bickslow; he just knew he didn't like her being close to the guy when she whispered in his ear.

Watching the two was Mavis with a contemplative look before she clapped her hands calling their attention. "Laxus, Lia, could you leave me with the sixth?" She asked them as they gave her a skeptical look "It's Fairy Tail's masters only talk"

"Ah" Makarov started catching on "You two go have fun while we talk"

Both Lia and Laxus complied even if they knew the two masters didn't have anything to talk about, they were tired of sitting around anyway.

They walked away, Lia wasn't sure if she should question the two master's intention or focus on the fact that Laxus was still Grumpy "Okay what's really wrong?" Lia asked him, when she had mentioned what they did Freed he didn't react

"Nothing" He said sighing, he had no idea why he was angry, when she hadn't done anything wrong. "So what do you want to do?"

Her mouth twitched as she thought before she smirked "You do realize, if I choose slides you'll get sick, right?"

He stopped walking as his face turned slightly green at the thought, while Lia turned to look at him and chuckled. Laxus snapped out of it when she placed a hand on his cheek "Body enchant: Balance!" She casted before grinning "Now we can enjoy our time here." As she turned around she didn't notice the slight blush on Laxus's cheek, who didn't even realize he was blushing.

On top of the love love slider, "This is ridiculous." Anise muttered as she watched her husband egg on Gray while Gray was also being pulled by Juvia telling him to ride the slide with her, she honestly felt sorry for Gray.

She turned her head to the side, where Bickslow was leaning against the wall while watching the stairs leading here, with a tied up and gagged Freed on the floor, struggling against the ropes.

Bickslow grinned when he saw Raine finally reaching the top, he pulled Freed and hid on the other side till she reached the top.

Raine looked around trying to find whatever Lia forgot here, thinking she should have asked what did she exactly forgot. She sweat dropped seeing the scene between Gray, Juvia and Lyon and choosing to ignore them.

But when was close to the start of the slide she was surprised when something hit her from behind and she fell right onto the slide, on Freed's lap.

"Damn those two" Freed muttered as he blushed looking away, Raine was scarlet looking away too.

Bickslow watched them slide grinning from the top, Anise sweat dropped, she would say Fairy Tail were weird, but…her eyes turned to Lyon and she sighed, she turned around though when she heard a shout, as the other three turned around too.

Natsu came flying hitting both Lyon and Gray and sending them into the slide, as he landed on the heart arc.

Juvia blushed, as Anise broke into a laugh clutching her stomach "Honestly they had it coming!"

Juvia though was lost in her own world as she imagined what was going on between the two, as Lucy joined them up the slide since she saw the commotion.

"C-Could this be…the Boys' Love I've heard about?" Juvia wondered

"Hang on, what are you doing?" Lucy asked her

"I just…wanted to see what happens next" She replied sheepishly "Just kidding…" they watched as the arc fell with Natsu on top of it.

"This can't be good." Anise said as they watched the dragon slayer scream.

Eve scratched the back of his head as he sat on a lounge chair, while Venus finished changing his bandages after the other one's were ruined from the water "Honestly you're so reckless, you should be resting"

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist coming to see you" He told her winking as she blushed, right as they heard a scream, before they were hit by the heart arc with Natsu on top.

"Why does this keep happening today?!" Venus wondered as she and Eve clutched to each other on the slide.

Lia and Laxus stopped walking and turned as the slide started glowing "What's that?" Laxus wondered

"Gray…" Lia muttered sensing his magic as he and Lyon ended up freezing the entire resort. "Gramps is gonna lose it" More over as they watched Natsu jump into the air before hitting the place and causing an explosion.

As the smoke cleared, Lia and Laxus stood to the side safe, since the prior had used her magic to protect them from the derbies. "See that? I won!" Natsu cheered as he stood in the middle of the destroyed resort with almost everyone else on the ground.

Laxus face palmed "I'm gonna get those two idiots" Laxus muttered as Lia nodded

"I will go make sure Gramps doesn't get a heart attack" Lia told him

Lia headed to where she left both masters, to find the two safe but white faced as they stared at the amount of destruction.

"So much for a relaxing night…" Lia muttered sighing.

* * *

 **This chapter was hard to write XD XD on another note the story has almost 7.5k views :O wow you guys are amazing! :D I would still love to hear what you think so far or if you see something that needs to be improved so review or pm ^_^**


	34. GMG: Day Four!

The fourth day of the games came and for the event it was Naval battle, Fairy Tail went with Juvia and Lucy, Lamia Scale went with Anise, Mermaid Heel went with Risley, Sabertooth's Minerva joined, from Blue Pegasus Jenny, and from Quatro Puppy was Rocker.

"Day four of the Grand Magic Games!" Chapati announced "In just a moment, today's competition will begin! The name of the competition is 'Naval Battle'! In other words, a sea battle! Any player who leaves the sphere is out! The last person to remain in the sphere is the winner! However, when it gets down to two people left, a special rule will come into effect. That's the five-minute rule! When there are two players left, they've got five minutes! The one person who leaves the sphere during that time will be in last place."

"So it's basically a sumo match in water." Yajima said

"I can't wait! Thank you very much for inviting me!" The guest announcer, Rabian, said.

"Our guest today is Mr. Rabian, leader of Scheherazade theatrical troupe." Chapati introduced just as the players entered the water sphere "All of the teams are entering the water." As Minerva entered the sphere the crowd broke into cheers.

"I think this match is Juvia's win" Lisanna said

"Anise is a water mage too though" Venus commented as she watched "Wonder who's stronger, Juvia or Anise?"

"Lucy has Aquarius too" Levy added, before cheering for Lucy.

"And now, let the Naval Battle begin!" Chapati announced

Lucy immediately summoned Aquarius, hopping to take care of everyone but Juvia immediately countered, she declared that she will not lose whilst in her own element, nor against her "love rival".

Everyone else sans Anise and Minerva are pushed by the two water cyclones but remain inside the sphere.

Anise watched Juvia and Lucy before gathering her magic "Lets see who's the stronger water mage!" She formed her own water torrent that collided with the other two, this surprised Lucy, but Juvia was already warned about Anise by Lia, and she was determined not to lose.

While the three were caught in a three way battle, Jenny used the chance to knock Rocker out, before she and Risley started facing off.

At that moment, seeing she is evenly matched, Aquarius decided to leave saying she also has a date. This left Lucy to the mercy of the two water torrents heading her way by Anise and Juvia.

She quickly summoned Aries and Virgo, who manage to protect her, Aries created a wall of wool to absorb Juvia's and Anise's Magic while Virgo kept Lucy out of the way.

"Juvia is going to knock you all out at once! Nobody can win against Juvia in the water!" Juvia declared as she gathered her magic "Juvia learned this move when second Origin was released…This new special technique! Go forth, wings of love! Gray, love!"

Anise dead panned, while protecting herself in water sphere, Lucy was helped by her spirits and Minerva protected herself with her magic too.

Jenny and Risley though were thrown out, as Jenny took sixth place and Risley fifth. Juvia turned to look at Gray for his reaction, however, upon seeing him appalled by the stunt she pulled, Juvia quickly became depressed, and thus distracted.

"You're wide open, Water snake!" Anise casted as three torrents of snake shaped water headed for Juvia easily knocking her out, thus taking fourth place.

"That idiot…" Gajeel said

"Next time, lets hide Gray somewhere she can't see him" Lia muttered

They were all surprised when Anise herself suddenly was outside the water, falling to the ground and receiving third place.

"What happened?" Mira wondered

"Minerva used her magic" Lia told them as she felt the magic coming from the Sabertooth wizard.

"Only Minerva and Lucy are left." Chapati announced "Lucy's celestial spirits have gone home for now."

"To avoid depleting her magic and physical strength, most likely." Yajima said

"Alright! Who's gonna win this, Sabertooth or Fairy Tail?! The five-minute rule comes into play now! The person who leaves the sphere in the next five minutes will be in last place!" Chapati wondered as the timer started.

Minerva started attacking Lucy with heat in the water, as the blonde screamed, when it let out she discovered her belt gone and Minerva holding it, before another attack headed for Lucy almost sending her out of the sphere, but she caught herself at the last second, but another attack forces her into the sphere again.

Minerva told Lucy to give up, as she moved to cast another spell, though Lucy stated that she will do whatever need be to win the game, as, if she were to lose, she could never look her teammates in the eyes after all they have sacrificed and achieved. Hearing this, Minerva suddenly ceased her attacks.

As the timer fell into the last thirty seconds, Lia's grip on railing tightened as she senses Minerva's magic building up, and the darkness in it. When the timer runs out, Lia shouted at Lucy "Get out of the sphere now! Lucy!" Her team looks at her confused, just as Minerva started attacking Lucy more furiously than before, making the blonde scream, everyone watched horrified, more so, when Lucy was about to fall out, Minerva moved Lucy to right in front of her, before kicking her in the back.

The game continued as Minerva kept hitting Lucy with both magic and physical attacks, till the match was finally stopped by the referee. Minerva held the unconscious, bloody and bruised Lucy by her neck, dangling her outside of the water sphere before she threw her to the ground just as Gray and Natsu caught her.

Wendy ran to them to help heal Lucy as Anise called Cheria who came down to help as well, Juvia ran to check on Lucy as well, while Natsu, Gray and Erza faced Minerva who was now out of the sphere, before she was joined by the rest of her team sans Rogue.

The crowd started calling for a fight between the two guilds. "Lucy…" Mira called

"If we go down there things will get worse" Lia muttered with clenched fists, she doubted any of her team would be acting as a peace keeper if they head down there.

But Natsu was stopped by Erza. "I don't care if you're the strongest or number one in Fiore, I'll just tell you one thing." Erza told them before glaring "You people…have made an enemy out of the one guild you don't want to anger."

* * *

Lucy was transferred to the infirmary and after everything had calmed down, Fairy Tail B made their way to check on her.

"Is Lucy okay?!" Juvia wondered as she entered the room followed by the rest of Fairy Tail B

"Lucy!" Mira called

"You guys…" Gray said surprised to see them

"We're still part of the same guild, so of course we'd worry" Lia told them

"Laxus!" Natsu was shocked to see even him here

"So, how is she?" Gajeel asked as Lia walked closer to Lucy she noted that magic wise the girl was fine but still casted her enchantment to help her recover the magic she had used.

"Thanks to Wendy, her life isn't in danger." Porlyusica told them

"No, it was because of Cheria's emergency treatment." Wendy told them

"Thank goodness…" Mira said

"And it looks like her major wounds are gone, so I'm relieved." Erza added

"Those bastards…" Natsu started angrily

"I know what you wanna say…" Laxus told him

"Speaking of…Lia, you shouted for her to get out" Erza noted as the orange haired girl nodded with a frown

"I could feel the darkness building up in Minerva's magic…under any other circumstances…I doubt she would have let Lucy live…" Lia stated as she remembered what she sensed from Minerva. That woman and Sabertooth's master were bad news.

At that moment Lucy stirred "Lucy…" Happy called as the girl woke up.

"Everyone…I'm sorry." Lucy apologized upon seeing everyone, making them confused

"Why are you apologizin'?" Natsu asked her as she hid her face under the covers

"I blew it again…" She explained

"What are you talking about?! We took second place thanks to you, Lucy!" Gray told her

"We got eight points!" Wendy added

"Yeah. You did very well." Erza told her

"My keys…" Lucy said weakly

"Here they are." Happy told her as he handed them over to her

Lucy hugged the keys to her "Thank goodness! Thank you!" She said as she fell asleep again

"Looks like she fell asleep…" Mira said as Lia nodded tucking in Lucy

"Sabertooth…" Gray started

"I don't like 'em…" Gajeel added just as the door opened

"Master!" Erza noted as Makarov walked in with Eiran

"Eiran!" Lia noted

"A team, B team… You're all here? Good." Makarov said "I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news. The administrators told me that teams A and B must combine."

"What?!" Natsu wondered

"Teams A and B have to unite?" Laxus repeated

"Why?" Mira asked

"The disqualification of Raven Tail brings the number of teams down to seven, and having an odd number doesn't work when it comes to matching up for the battle part." Makarov explained "Therefore, both of our teams must become one and we have to choose the five members again."

"What about our points?" Carla asked

"Apparently, the lower score will carry over. In other words, A team's 35 points…" Makarov told them

"How cruel!" Happy said

"That's not really fair…" Lia agreed

"But if that's administration's decision there's nothing we can do about it." Erza said

"We just focus on putting the strongest team possible" Eiran told them

"But even if we decide on five people here, the remaining events will all just be tag-team battles, right?" Gray wondered

"No, I'm sure that between tomorrow's break and the final day, there will be a battle involving all five members. So you should choose carefully." Porlyusica told them

"I'm definitely gonna get revenge for Lucy!" Natsu declared "I ain't gonna let'em get away with laughin' at one of our own!"

At Natsu declaration everyone's determination reached its peak, Sabertooth had just earned themselves the wraith of Fairy Tail.

* * *

After the team members were chosen they started heading down to the arena to join the rest of the guilds' teams while the remaining members, sans Wendy and Carla , the two opting to stay with Lucy, and Makarov started heading back to the stands.

Lia and Eiran trailed behind the rest "You know, I realize Gramps told me to never be alone, but I doubt he meant you had to stalk me all the time." Lia told Eiran who grinned in reply

"Can't a guy worry about his little sister?" He said it jokingly as he emphasized the 'little' part, but he would be damned if he let that guild get Lia again.

Before she could reply though she sensed it, clear as a bonfire for the first time "We have an invitation" Lia muttered confusing Eiran, but he followed when she quietly turned around and walked away from the rest of the members.

"The Fairy Tail team has finished it's organization" Chapati announced as the members joined the stands with the rest of the guild "And we're about to begin the battle part of day four! Continuing with commentary, we have with us former council member Mr. Yajima and our special guest today is Mr. Rabian, leader of the Scheherazade Theatrical Troupe."

"The battle part for the fourth day are tag-team matches, right?" Yajima said

"Two against two? I can't wait!" Rabian said "Thank you very much!

"Alright, I will now announce the match-ups for the battles! Everyone, please direct your eyes to Lacrima-vision!" Chapati announced "The first match is Blue Pegasus versus Quatro Puppy! The second match is Mermaid Heel versus Lamia Scale! The third match is Sabertooth versus Fairy Tail!" The crowds broke into cheers "And now, here comes the new Fairy Tail team!"

The crowd watched in anticipation while the Fairy Tail guild in determination "This really is the strongest team, right?" Mira said

"This is an awesome team!" Cana agreed

"I can't even picture these members failing." Juvia said

"The thoughts of our guild have become one. We're entrusting this feeling to the gods!" Makarov said as the team walked into the arena.

"Now is the time to show them all the power of our bond!" Mavis announced

The crowd broke into loud cheers upon seeing Natsu, Gray, Erza, Gajeel and Laxus walk out into the arena, enough to cause the arena to shake.

"The whole arena is shaking! Right here and now…" Chapati announced "…Fairy Tail is taking the field!"

Meanwhile inside the building Lia and Eiran stopped momentarily upon sensing the shaking, as they grinned when they heard the cheers mixed with the announcement.

"Let's hurry and get this over with so we can watch the match" Eiran said

"Ah" Lia agreed

"Good thing I came for you, you probably would have ran off on your own otherwise." Eiran said as they continued walking

"Maybe" Lia said with a nervous laugh before they turned a corner and the two turned serious upon seeing standing there was Xenos.

"I was hoping you wouldn't come and that I could keep the act up" He said with a smirk "Next step was actually joining Fairy Tail itself."

Xenos was wearing a button up shirt, but was left open clearly showing the Eptá Amartíes mark on his chest.

Lia frowned while Eiran's jaw clenched as he glared at the guy. "Master was worried you had remembered so he said to do this to check with so many wizards around he wondered if mine would be familiar so you will come seek it." Xenos continued "Then again I doubt you would be just standing there if you did remember…so maybe you don't remember but it still felt familiar?"

"You sure do love to talk" Lia said "Or do you just love to listen to your own voice?"

"Oh you're getting defensive, so did I hit the nail on the head?" Xenos wondered as he took a step forward but immediately crystal spikes were between them

"That's close enough!" Eiran snarled, stepping closer to Lia "Now, what are you really here for?"

"I already explained, we were checking to see where we stood, to update our plan and such" Xenos stated "We don't want any surprises again after Tenroujima after all. Do you realize you halted our plan for seven entire years" their eyes narrowed at him, he was outnumbered but he didn't even seem to care acting casually. "Well considering you did show up, and you know I am with Eptá, I guess I am gonna give you the message."

Outside in the arena the first match between Quatro puppy, Bacchus and Rocker, versus Blue Pegasus and Rabbit, who was revealed to be an exceed who liked like Ichiya and his name was Nichiya, everyone was shocked at the revelation, Erza even fainted when she noticed two Ichiyas.

"We can barely manage dealing with one" Venus said as Ichiya went to explain how he and Nichiya met.

When Ichiya had finished, Bacchus immediately went to attack throwing Nichiya to the ground.

"Um, where did Eiran and Lia go?" Mira wondered when she noticed the two missing

"They didn't stay at the infirmary with Wendy and Carla?" Raine asked her as Mira shook her head

"Maybe they got lost?" Lisanna suggested

They turned to the fight as Ichiya used his parfum magic to turn into a muscled giant, but he stopped Bacchus and Rocker with a weird smile before finishing the fight in one hit.

Inside the building Lia and Eiran were still facing Xenos with the crystal spikes between them.

"Message?" Lia repeated

"Ah, Master wanted me to deliver this message to you, if you showed up, whether you remembered or not, more insistent if you didn't remember" He told them with a smirk as they frowned

"Get on with it!" Eiran told him with narrowed eyes, they had already heard the announcement for the first fight finishing, and he wanted Lia and himself far away from this guy.

"Would it hurt you to say please?" Xenos snorted and even smirked at the annoyed look on Eiran's face.

Outside in the arena the third match was about to begin "Alright! The second match is next. From Lamia Scale, Lyon and Yuka!" Chapati announced as the two walked into the arena "And from Mermaid Heel, Kagura and Millianna are competing! Mr. Yajima, what are your thoughts on this match?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if either side won. I'm certainly looking forward to this match." Yajima replied

"I hope Mermaid Heel wins" Happy said as he stood between Levy and Venus "I've known Millianna since that tower of Heaven business, see."

"I guess I'm rooting for Lamia Scale. They've been a big help." Levy said

"Same, besides I know a lot of people in Lamia Scale including Lyon" Venus said

"Certainly, we have a history with Lamia Scale…" Macao started

"…but all of the Mermaid Heel wizards are beauties, right?" Wakaba finished as Max, Warren, Reedus, Jet and Droy joined them.

"You guys are hopeless" Venus muttered

"Juvia, what's wrong?" Levy asked the water wizard who was sitting quietly with a frown

"Juvia…Juvia…" She started hesitantly as she got lost in thought before freaking out "As a member of the guild, Juvia is a bad girl for wishing injuries on her comrades! But Juvia wants to be by Gray's side!" She started crying as Mira, Raine and Cana joined beside her. "And yet…! Juvia doesn't want her guildmates to get hurt! What should Juvia do?!"

"W-What's wrong, Juvia?" Levy asked her with a sweat drop

"Is there something on your mind?" Mira asked her

"We'll give you good counsel, so go ahead and share with us girls." Cana told her

"We're all here for you" Raine told her as well

"Hey! If you don't do this right, I'll make the both of you spin!" Obada shouted at Lyon and Yuka as the match started with Kagura stepping back and letting Millianna fight on her own.

Millianna started with using her cat binding tube but the two guys dodged. She kept trying to hit them but they kept dodging.

"They're really making light of us…" Sherry said

"They must be confident…" Cheria added

"It's up to Lyon and Yuka to make them regret it then" Anise said

"You…Mermaid Heel…" Obada started before she started spinning "Lyon! Yuka! Do whatever you have to do to win! Show them how strong we are!"

Lyon tried attacking Kagura but Millianna got in the way stopping his attack, before she dodged Yuka's magic and using Kitten Blast against him as diversion before getting close and punching Yuka in the face repeatedly.

Millianna jumped back before taking off her gloves, and scratching the two on the face. When she tried to use her Cat Binding tube again Yuka used his magic to nullify her attack.

So she tried again with multiple tubes, Yuka managed to block most at first but one then got him from behind and he and Lyon ended tied up.

"She's got them on the ropes" Anise said with a grin as Sherry sweat dropped

"You couldn't pass saying that could you?" Sherry asked her

Lyon to get out of the situation created an Ice mouse that Millianna proceeded to follow, making her magic disappear and Lyon and Yuka released.

Millianna turned to him shouting at him not to insult her intelligence, Lyon then created a blizzard making Millianna shiver before she hid under a kotatsu that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She got up shouting at him again not to treat her as a cat.

"I don't know him!" Anise muttered as she hid her face in her hand appalled by his tactics.

"Hey! Lyon and Yuka, quit standing around! If you don't win this right now, I'm gonna make you spin!" Obada yelled

Lyon made a snow tiger that proceeded to pursue Millianna as she ran from it, and while she wasn't paying attention she ran straight into the side of the arena, before losing conscious.

As Kagura joined the fight, Yuka was the first to attack but Kagura easily dodged, she kept dodging his attacks going at him at high speed before getting behind him and making him fall in one hit with her sheathed sword.

"W-Will Lyon be okay?" Cheria asked

"Even though he had a hard time against Millianna, going one on one against Kagura…" Sherry said

"What? Lyon hasn't unleashed his true strength yet." Obada told them "Lyon! No matter what, you'd better win! Show her your power!"

"She's right, Lyon didn't even attack Millianna directly at all" Anise told them "Although I doubt he'll go all out."

Lyon and Kagura stared off, before the prior started the attack which Kagura dodged easily before going for a hit interrupting his second attack, and throwing him back.

"What are you doin' Lyon?!" Gray shouted from where he stood with his team "And you were Ul's disciple?! You're stronger than that! Get your act together now!"

Lyon got up and made a snow tiger, snow ape and a snow dragon, all three went to attack Kagura who dodged, before using her gravity magic, Lyon and his three creations were hovering in the air.

Kagura jumped destroying his creations, and as she went for the finishing hit, the time ran out, causing the match to end in a draw.

"The crowd is still pumped up here at the arena! But don't take your eyes off of the next battle!" Chapati announced

"At last!" Mavis cheered

"Yep. At last…" Macao said

"At long last!" Wakaba agreed

"Finally…" Levy said

"…the time has come!" Cana said

"Natsu, Gajeel, Don't get hurt!" Juvia yelled "No injuries! Nobody is allowed to get hurt!"

"Why are you so obsessed with injuries?" Mira asked her

"I can guess…" Venus stated as Raine nodded

Inside the building, Lia a was on the ground resting next to a wall and hiding her face in her knees as Eiran stood leaning against the opposite wall with arms crossed.

Xenos was long gone now, having left after giving them the 'message'. "Lia, ready to go back?" Eiran asked her, since the third match was about to start and maybe seeing Fairy Tail win this fight would distract her from what they just heard.

She looked up nodding mutely before she stood up and they started making their way back. They made it back just as Chapati started to announce the start of the match.

"I'm sure all of our viewers have been eagerly looking forward to this battle." Chapati said as the four Dragon slayers took the field "A fateful showdown between the guild that was called the strongest seven years ago and the strongest current guild!" The arena was completely quiet in anticipation "Fairy Tail's Natsu and Gajeel versus Sabertooth's Sting and Rogue!

And all four of them are Dragon Slayers. All four possess anti-dragon magic. The dream Dragon Slayer showdown is finally happening! The time to clash is here at last! All four dragons are on the battlefield!"

"I've been looking forward to it-kabo! The time limit is 30 minutes! Let the match begin!" The ref announced

Natsu and Gajeel were the first to land a hit immediately, Natsu dodged Sting's roar who then redirected it to try and hit Gajeel but the latter dodged as well. Rogue went at Gajeel with the Shadow Dragon's slash, but Gajeel blocked with the iron Dragon's sword and then threw Rogue off.

Natsu grabbed Rogue mid-air by the face, before surprising Sting by hitting him with Rogue, before hitting the two with the Fire Dragon's wing attack, sending both of them flying.

The audience watched in shock while Fairy Tail cheered for their comrades as Natsu and Gajeel dominated the fight.

Sting and Rogue stood up acknowledging Natsu's and Gajeel's strength, Natsu questioned whether the two of them really beat Dragons with their level of strength. Sting states they not only defeated them but killed them and claims he'll show the power they used to do it. Then both he and Rogue activate White Drive and Shadow Drive.

Sting immediately attacked Natsu as Rogue attacked Gajeel, Gajeel's attack kept going through Rogue's body since Rogue kept moving in the shadows, which was how Rogue managed to elbow Gajeel and threw him at Natsu who was thrown by Sting's kick.

Sting and Rogue were the ones in control of the battle now and had the upper hand. While pounding Natsu, Sting told him that he had looked up to him and aimed to surpass him before he attached a stigma to Natsu's abdomen that paralyzed the fire Dragon Slayer. Meanwhile, Rogue appeared behind Gajeel as the latter tried to attack him, saying the shadow Dragon will successfully hunt its prey.

"For all their talk, those two can't hold a candle to Natsu and Gajeel" Eiran commented

"Makes wonder how strong they would have been by now if they actually had the seven years of training" Lia wondered

Gajeel grabbed Rogue's arm just as he was about to punch him asking him about what he was saying. And just as Sting was about to hit Natsu the later countered with a fire punch surprising Sting as he also saw that Natsu had burned off the stigma.

Gajeel elbowed Rogue and kicked to the side of the arena as Natsu punched Sting to the same wall.

Sting started gathering his magic for his best move as all the wizards in the crowd felt the sheer power coming from Sting. Sting unleashed his Holy Nova on Natsu, but was surprised when Natsu unharmed stopped it with one hand holding Sting's arm. AS Rogue tries to punch Gajeel, the latter easily counters punching Rogue away.

Natsu and Gajeel took control of the flow of battle again as the crowd cheered. Sting and Rogue got up from the ground before they release a large amount of magic as scales cover their bodies, unleashing Dragon Force.

Sting walked forward telling Rogue to stand back and that he will take care of them by himself.

In an instant, Sting punched Natsu in the face, sending him flying backwards. Gajeel attempted to hit Sting with his iron leg, but he missed and is subsequently hit in the face by a blast of light. Natsu then attempted to hit Sting with his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist but his attack is caught by the White Dragon Slayer and he is kicked in the stomach and tossed across the arena, hitting Gajeel and sending both flying. Sting then jumps in the air and unleashes his White Dragon's Holy Breath, shattering the floor of the arena.

The entire arena shakes as everyone stare in shock at the hole in the floor of the arena. Lacrima Vision appears to allow everyone to follow the fight that will continue underground.

Natsu hits Sting with his Fire Dragon's Sword Horn, as Gajeel follows with Iron Dragon's Roar at point blank range sending Sting to the ground, but Sting countered with his Holy Ray, sending multiple rays of light at Natsu and Gajeel and hitting them repeatedly.

"Holy attribute magic…" Mavis noted

"That's rare…" Lia noted

Natsu landed on his feet but is quickly punched by Sting's light-enhanced fist and is sent flying, unable to even block the punch. Gajeel is then kicked by Sting and the two Dragon slayers of Fairy Tail attempt to take down their opponent with hand-to-hand combat with no luck as Sting shuts out their attempts. Sting stands over a defeated Natsu and Gajeel on the ground, as Rogue jumps down joining him, as the two deactivated their dragon force.

Fairy Tail members watch in horror while they call for Natsu and Gajeel to stand up, which the two eventually do making the crowd break into cheers.

Natsu immediately tells Sting he's learned his habits such as the timing of his attacks, his pose while defending and even his breathing rhythm, though he acknowledged the strength of Dragon Force. The supporters of Fairy Tail gleefully look on at the battle. At the same time, Natsu and Gajeel began to argue about the position of Sting's pivot leg while attacking.

"Does those two even know how to read a clock?" Venus commented as everyone watch with a sweat drop the two dragon slayers.

Natsu pushed Gajeel into a mining cart and pulls the lever sending the motion sick Iron Dragon slayer away from the battle field.

Natsu to get payback on Sting for underestimating him and Gajeel, he decides to fight both Rogue and Sting on his own. Sting reacts angrily while Rogue demands to fight Gajeel, before the two reactivate their Dragon force.

Sting tries to punch Natsu but the latter blocks before countering with his own punch sending Sting flying, at the same time Rogue sent his Shadow Dragon's Roar at Natsu but Natsu counters with his Fire Dragon's Roar overwhelming Rogue's Roar and hitting Rogue himself.

"He's having fun down there" Eiran commented as they watch Natsu dominate the fight

"But Gajeel isn't gonna like it when he comes back" Lia added

"Lets hope we don't have a repeat of Ryuuzetsu land" Raine said as Lisanna agreed

Eventually Sting and Rogue meet up together combining their power.

"This feeling…The quality of magic has changed again." Juvia stated

"The magic of those two has begun to merge." Mira said

"Unison Raid" Makarov noted

"Their will, breathing and magic have combined perfectly into one power." Mavis stated

"But this is their last shot, they' will be out of magic after this" Lia noted as they all watched in anticipation with Happy yelling for Natsu to dodge.

Sting and Rogue release their combined attack Holy Shadow Dragon Fang Flash straight at Natsu who doesn't seem to plan on dodging. In answer all the Fairy Tail members raise their hands in the familiar sign to show support.

Natsu countered with his Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade, completely annihilating the Unison Raid and causing a large explosion as a result.

After the dust cleared, Sting and Rogue fell to the ground, unable to continue the battle.

"Th-This is…The last one standing is Natsu Dragneel!" Chapati announced "It's Fairy Tail! He broke the Twin Dragons! The winner is Fairy Tail! With this, they've leaped to first place!" Fairy Tail was cheering and celebrating loudly. "And this brings an end to the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games! After one day off, we'll be back the day after tomorrow with the final battle! The last day will feature a survival battle, with all of the members participating! Which guild will achieve victory in the end?! Don't anyone miss it!"

With this all the guilds change their goal to beating Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **The views! I mean wow! and we're one fave away from 30 O_O I was in a really good mood because of that, also because it was my birthday yesterday, 19/8, I am finally 21 year old, like my OC XD**

 **Anyway, I would love to hear what you think in a pm or a review, so any idea what might the message be? ;)**


	35. GMG: Day off!

**I am gonna start replying to the reviews here :D**

 **Scarlett Winds : Thank you! :D and here's an early update! **

**L.A. Artemis : I am glad you like it :D Honestly writing those fighting scenes makes me nervous and I'm always afraid that people would find rewriting something they watched is boring, so I'm really glad you like it! :D and about what Lia is feeling and thinking, I am gonna try to do it more, especially starting next chapter after what is revealed in this one ;)**

 **So on to the chapter *cackles evilly***

* * *

On the night of the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games, Fairy Tail gathered in the bar Sun to celebrate.

"What was that, Jackass?! Say it again!" Natsu yelled at Gray

"Jeez. I said you're too frickin' noisy, Natsu." Gray told him as the two started fighting.

"Go for it, Natsu!" Happy cheered

"As always, they've got more energy than they know what to do with." Carla said "right, Wendy?"

"One's a wizard who controls fire and the other's a wizard who controls ice, so…" Wendy said

"I don't think that's just it, Gray doesn't fight with Macao or Romeo" Venus said from beside her

"So, it's even deeper than that. I suppose we can't expect them to just get along." Lily said just as Juvia started fawning over Gray

"Alright, that's enough!" Lucy yelled at the two fighting "Any more, and you'll destroy another pub!"

"Well, the Grand Magic Games is taking a break tomorrow, so why not let them blow off a little steam?" Mira told her

"So is that also considered blowing off steam?" Sol asked Romeo as they watched the table with Lia and Cana, the latter had challenged Lia to a drinking contest which, to everyone's surprise, she accepted, so the two were doing just that, although Lia was already swaying while picking up another drink.

"I don't even know" Romeo answered

At another table were Lisanna, Raine and Eiran. "I thought she said she wouldn't drink that much again after the hangover from Flower Appreciation Day?" Raine wondered

"I guess she's caught in the celebration mood" Eiran chuckled nervously

"Almost everyone is" Lisanna said as she saw a drunk Makarov and her brother and sister cheer Natsu and Gray to fight even more, which led to the two using magic and hitting Happy who was about to eat his fish. Happy ended up frozen and fell to the ground, while his fried fish flew straight into Erza's cake.

As Wendy healed Happy, Erza hit both Natsu's and Gray's heads together and threw them to the ground, before reequipping a sword to punish them for destroying her cake.

At that moment Gajeel showed up "Yeesh. I finally made it, for cryin' out loud." Gajeel said before going at Natsu for throwing him out during the match which Natsu completely forgot he did. Gajeel then told him and Wendy to come with him somewhere, the Exceed, Lucy and Gray ended up going too.

A little while later, at Lia's and Cana's table a gong sounded as Lia fell unconscious on the table, making Cana the winner. "It was a fool's challenge" Evergreen commented from where she sat with the rest of the thunder tribe and Laxus.

"Well you and Bickslow did the same though on the first day" Freed told them

"It was their fault she started drinking in the first place" Venus added from where she sat beside them

"Oi, when did you get here?" Bickslow asked, since he didn't even notice her beside him till now.

"A while" She told him as they sweat dropped at her.

On the other table, Eiran was lost in thought; he knew Lia probably wanted to get drunk so she didn't have to think about what they heard today.

* * *

 _"Would it hurt you to say please?" Xenos snorted and even smirked at the annoyed look on Eiran's face._

 _"If you have something to say, say it already" Lia snapped at him too, but Xenos just chuckled, but raised his hand to stop them when the two started gathering their magic, it was beyond them how Xenos found the situation funny._

 _"Master said to tell you 'to be careful, and not to worry we will not come for you now unless you go and do something as reckless as Tenroujima again, and that we're only keeping an eye on you out of concern after all…" and his smirk widened_

* * *

"Eiran…" Mira called bringing him out of his thoughts

He sighed, the whole situation annoyed him, and he still needed to tell Makarov about what happened today.

"So, where did you two disappear to today?" Mira asked as she took a seat beside Eiran, that's when he noticed Raine and Lisanna were already gone, along with a few members of the guild that seemed to have called it a night, when he took a look at the clock it was well past midnight.

"It's a long story" He told her passing his hand through his hair "Master is probably gonna tell you and Erza when we head back home" after all the two were S rank wizards.

Mira frowned, she had a feeling something was going on…something big, and this made her feel even more uneasy.

The bar was almost empty, the only people there were Mira and Eiran talking, Makarov still drinking, Erza enjoying her cake, Juvia waiting for Gray to come back, a sleeping Lia on one of the tables, and Laxus who had told the thunder tribe to go ahead, since he would take Lia back to the hotel room they still shared with the others.

It was then that Wendy, Gajeel, the Exceed and Gray carrying an unconscious Natsu came running into the bar looking distressed and/or angry, surprising everyone.

"Natsu has magic deficiency disease!" Wendy shouted immediately as they sprang to action laying the dragon slayer on one of the tables.

"Wendy, think you can get Lia up?" Eiran asked as Wendy nodded already headed to Lia, to help her get sober.

"What happened?" Makarov asked the group, sobering up immediately.

"Short story, Lucy was captured by the royal army, and Natsu when tried to save her got his magic absorbed by some gigantic magic door" Gray said just as Lia got up catching the words where Natsu got his magic absorbed.

"This isn't good" She said rushing to Natsu "His magic is dangerously low" She put a hand on his chest " Body enchant: Spissus Rejuvenate!" but even with the spell, she opened his mouth.

"What are you doing?" Laxus asked her

"Giving him a late dinner" She said "Magic missile: Fire!" she kept giving him fire balls through his mouth, till she sensed his magic storage already filled to the point where he can recover normally. "He should be fine now, and knowing him he will up before we know it"

"Good, now tie him up, we can't have him running off after Lucy without a plan" Makarov told them as she and Eiran started tying him up to one of the poles, before he turned to Gray and Gajeel "Now explain exactly what happened"

They told them about the dragon graveyard they went to check, and the dragon Zirconis they talked to thanks to Wendy's spell, then when Arcadios and Yukino showed up and told them about their plan before taking them to the Eclipse gate itself, before they were surrounded by guards because of the minister of defense and Natsu lost his magic as Lucy was taken, also that should they win the games they get a chance to ask the king to release Lucy.

Half way through the conversation Natsu had woken up.

"What?!" Laxus exclaimed

"Lucy was captured by the royal army?!" Erza exclaimed

"So they involved her in a plan we know almost nothing about…" Makarov said as he sat on the bar, now sober thanks to Wendy.

"In other words, what? Unless we win the Grand Magic Games, we won't get Lucy back?" Laxus said

"Although I don't know if we can trust that, either." Gray said as Juvia agreed

"If we take that route we leave it to the whims of the king" Eiran said

"Who gives a crap about that?! I'm gonna rescue Lucy right now!" Natsu shouted

"Please calm down, Natsu." Wendy told him

"You're a real piece of work…" Carla told him

"Your opponent is the kingdom!" Happy told him

"Master…" Erza promoted

"We can't act recklessly against the kingdom, but on the other hand, they can't afford to treat their citizens too shabbily either. Maybe we can think of her as a hostage who'll be kept until this project is cancelled." Makarov said

"That's a pain in the ass." Laxus said

"A hostage…" Erza repeated

"But that doesn't make sense." Gajeel said "Why would the let the rest of us go when we heard the same state secrets?"

"It's got nothin' to do with makin' sense!" Natsu said

"It's also possible we've been released as witnesses to eventually help convict Arcadios." Lily added

"Why?" Happy asked

"When there's the danger of top secret information spreading…" Carla said

"Maybe they decided it can't be hidden any longer." Erza said

"If they'd captured the whole lot of us, we wouldn't be able to leak info, right?" Gray wondered

"But…" Juvia started

"I don't know about that. Gray, you and the others are participants in the Grand Magic Games, right?" Mira told him "If you suddenly didn't appear tomorrow people would take notice."

"I don't think even the kingdom wants to make an enemy out of a wizard guild." Juvia added

"And with them having Lucy, they know we won't risk her safety by spreading information about the project" Lia added

"To us, it's ridiculous that Lucy's been taken captive, but it isn't a breach of the royal army's sense of justice." Erza said

Natsu struggled some more with the ropes "Why won't they get cut?!" He yelled frustrated

"I have them enchanted" Lia explained

"Stifle it!" Makarov yelled at Natsu "This ain't a festival where the whole family gets captured. We all feel the same way." They were all determined to save Lucy "This time, just charging ahead without thinking isn't gonna work. Still, we're not cowards who're gonna take it lying down either. We're Fairy Tail!"

"So what is the plan?" Eiran asked

Makarov quieted down for a second thinking. "How about…two teams?" Lia suggested "One rescues Lucy while the game is going on, and another for the games itself, if we can't rescue Lucy than if we win the games we still have a chance, and on the off chance that we lose, we still have a chance at rescuing Lucy"

"A battle on two fronts?" Makarov thought the idea over before nodding "That will do. On the infiltration team…" Natsu at this point was trying to bite at the ropes "Natsu" He perked up and stopped biting "Happy, Wendy, Carla, Mira and Eiran"

"So if you promise to behave till tomorrow, I will untie you" Lia told him and he grinned and promised, when she got rid of the ropes he cried for sweet freedom.

"Master, who's gonna take Natsu's place on the team?" Mira asked

Makarov thought it over; it was either Lia or Juvia. "Sixth, if I may…" Mavis said as she appeared almost giving the old man a heart attack "I suggest Lia as the fifth member"

"Me?" Lia was surprised, Mira and Erza smiled, it seems after so long, Lia still didn't consider herself strong.

"I was thinking about putting Lia on the team" Makarov said, as Eiran was glad for more reasons than one. "Then the team in the games will consist of Laxus, Erza, Gajeel, Gray and Lia!"

"All right! Let's win the games and get Lucy back!" Natsu cheered

"Aye, Sir!" Happy cheered

* * *

The next morning "But wouldn't it be better if I just made us some clothes?" Lia asked as she walked with Cana, Venus and Erza, Cana already holding a bottle and drinking.

"It's a change of pace, and we can have Fairy Tail's girls days out" Venus told them cheerfully since she was the one that pulled them into this.

"You say that but…" Erza started

"…we're missing a lot of the girls in Fairy Tail." Cana finished

"I couldn't find them all" Venus said as hunched over depressed "Lucy is the only one, I thought wouldn't make it and I was hoping to get her a gift, the other though I have no idea."

"I wouldn't mind getting something new to wear for tomorrow" Erza said as she reassured Venus, who perked up. "A fashion sense is important for women!" She cheered

"Not like we were doing anything" Cana shrugged

They all turned to Lia who sighed "Fine, lets go!" She muttered before she was glombed by Venus.

"Alright!" Venus sheered letting go "Shopping time!" Erza cheered as she and Venus led Cana and Lia through the shops.

They walked through town, at some point stopping at a bookstore, Lia got plenty of books there and at another at a liquor store, they had to drag Cana away from there. Eventually, they went inside one shop where they started trying stuff.

"I like this" Erza comments as she comes out wearing a short sleeveless light violet, with gradiation in the violet, kimono with a flower design, held by a purple obi and wide sleeves tied at her biceps with the same design.

"It's missing something…" Venus mused thoughtfully

"That is supposed to be worn with pants or shorts?" Lia said with a sweat drop but Venus ignored her "Maybe stockings?" Lia suggested as Venus snapped her finger and went to find some before coming back and giving them to Erza, who wore them "Well it's gonna surprise people"

"It's perfect" Venus said, she turned to Lia holding a top for her "I found this too, you should try it" It was a black strapless corset top with silver lace sideways and connected to a left arm wide lace sleeve that would end at the elbow, with silver lace ruffles at the end.

"Alright" Lia took it but before she could go try it, they turned to Cana who had just stepped out from the dressing room.

They sweat dropped at the brunette "Cana where did you get a swimsuit?" Venus asked her as Cana shrugged, Lia sighed before going to try the top on.

"I'm not good at choosing clothes so whatever" Cana said grinning before she held her bottle drinking again.

"Leave that to us!" Venus grinned as she and Erza started looking the different shelves and hanged clothes.

"What do you think?" Lia asked as she came out wearing the top, she had even gone and changed her pants into black tight pants and her boots into knee high black flat boots, her hair was let down instead of the high ponytail she's been keeping her hair in lately.

The top hugged her body and showed her curves, surprising Lia it wasn't uncomfortable and she could probably move in it okay during a fight, but she doubted it would last after tomorrow.

"It suits you" Erza commented as she held a few dresses and tops

"Yup" Venus agreed holding her own pile of clothes

"I think I will get it" Lia commented before a pile was pushed towards Lia and the other towards Cana "eh?"

"Hey give it back!" Cana complained when Venus took her bottle

"After you two are done trying those" Venus told them

"And you two?" Lia asked them but hung her head when she saw they were already holding each another pile for them to try.

And that was how they ended up spending the morning and left the shop with lots of shopping bags each.

"Lia, do you think you can take mine too?" Venus asked Lia who's bags where already gone

"Huh, where did your bags go?" Cana asked her

"I learned requip magic during the three months" Lia explained as she started requipping Venus's bags one by one. "I thought it would be useful, but it still a little hard, I can only do small stuff, not armors or weapons like Erza"

"But it still a progress for the short time you've practicing" Erza commented, before she looked thoughtful "Is that Mira and Eiran?"

"What?" Lia and Venus asked as they turned to look

"Would you look at that?" Cana said with a smirk.

The said two were walking around while looking at the shops, from where they stood they could see they were even talking and Mira even laughed a little at something he said.

"Quick!" Lia said as she pushed the three and the four of them ended up hiding in an alleyway as they watched the couple.

"I guess that's what Mira was busy doing" Cana commented "About time Eiran asked her out"

"Lisanna, Raine, Wendy and Carla are trailing the said 'Date'" Lia said as she started sensing the two hiding in some bushes

"Date?!" Erza repeated as she started getting red

Venus squealed "They look so cute!" before they all plastered themselves on the wall, Lia pulling Erza who was in a daze, as Eiran and Mira passed beside them, letting out a breath when they went undiscovered by the couple.

"Wait here, I will get the others so we can get all that happened" Lia told them as she wrapped and appeared beside the hiding Lisanna, Raine, Wendy, and Carla. "Yo!" She greeted as they almost jumped in shock at her appearance

"Lia!" They let out

After the two groups regrouped in an alleyway while the couple they were following entered a restaurant to eat.

"Since this morning, they left before anyone noticed them" Lisanna told them "Apparently to plan what to do tomorrow"

"She ended up dragging all of us to trail them" Carla said

"She wanted me to help listen in on them" Wendy said

"Although, from what we heard so far…" Raine started

"…They don't even realize it's a date" Lisanna sighed

Cana chuckled "I never thought Mira would be this oblivious" Lia sighed though

"Eiran is probably just that oblivious" She said shaking her head

"Date?!" Erza was still hung lost in thought

"Snap out of it, Erza" Venus told the red head shaking her.

Wendy turned to look at the restaurant "They're coming out" She told them, in less than a second they were plastered to the wall, as Eiran and Mira passed them without noticing. As they all turned to look at the couple.

"What are you guys doing?" Someone asked loudly from behind them causing them to yelp and hide, when Eiran and Mira turned to look when they heard the sound, before they shrugged and went on their way.

In the alleyway, on the ground where the girls covering their mouths and Lisanna covering Natsu's as well. They all sighed in relief when they finally noticed the couple walking away.

"You almost got us caught" Venus hissed at Natsu

"If we get caught by those two we're dead" Lisanna said as Raine and Wendy paled

"I might be able to handle Eiran on his own, but Mira and him together…" Lia said paling as well

"We still have Erza on our side though, right?" Wendy wondered as they turned to the red head who was repeating the word date.

"Don't count on her too much in this situation" Cana told them as Lisanna and Lia hummed in agreement

"If it so dangerous, why are we still following them?" Carla asked

"They'rrrrre in Lovvvvve" Happy said as he and Natsu watched the couple from around the corner

"One, Mira had tried to get all of us set up at some point, so it's time for revenge" Lia counted

"Two, It's gonna be fun to tease them about it" Cana added

"Three, those two should have gotten together ages ago" Lisanna finished

"Umm…Where did Natsu and Happy go?" Wendy asked as they all turned to notice the messing dragon slayer and his partner exceed.

They watched around the corner to notice the two following the couple too closely that he would definitely get caught.

"That idiot!" Cana, Lia and Venus said together.

"I can't believe he's actually following them too" Carla muttered with a sweat drop.

Lia teleported and appeared beside Natsu dragging him into a nearby shop along with Happy, covering Natsu's mouth with her hand, just as Eiran and Mira turned to look for the sound again.

"I don't think it's my imagination" Eiran told Mira but they turned and kept walking when they turned a corner the rest of the stalking group, with Lisanna pulling Erza, joined Lia who had Natsu and Happy tied up.

"So what now?" Venus asked "If we had to deal with those three" gesturing to Erza, Natsu and Happy "We would definitely get caught, and I would rather live to see tomorrow"

"We could…not follow them, couldn't we?" Carla suggested

"I don't think they will just let it go" Raine told the exceed

Lia, Venus, Cana and Lisanna shared a look before they nodded "Leave them, the stalking operation is too important"

Raine, Wendy and Carla sweat dropped at the camaraderie between the four when it came to following the couple.

"Stalk who now?" A voice asked from behind them as they froze

"I hope you're not talking about us" another voice added sweetly as the two people's death aura mixed together causing the group in front of them to freeze even more.

"Every person for their self?" Cana wondered as Lia nodded stiffly

"Wait…" Venus started

"…Don't leave us" Lisanna added

Ignored by Lia and Cana, the prior teleported away, while the latter used her cards, to cause a smoke explosion before she disappeared.

Wendy herself was missing along with Carla when the smoke cleared, the latter had flown the prior away, Raine gone too, when she used her transformation rune to another form and slipped away, even Erza was gone.

Leaving at the mercy of the two S-rank wizards, Venus, Lisanna, a tied up Natsu and Happy. Venus and Lisanna hugged each other with tears coming out of their eyes.

* * *

After escaping Mira and Eiran, all Lia wanted was to enjoy a quiet visit to the library, which she was what she had planned for the day before Venus and the others interfered.

Crocus's library after all was nothing to scoff at, and had a wide variety of books, so spending a day reading them was something that would have made her day, and maybe made her, albeit temporary; forget about what had happened yesterday.

She had no idea how it ended up like this, facing Sabertooth's Memory Make mage, Rufus. "Stop hoarding the books" Lia told him with narrowed eyes.

She had wondered into the aisle with the books on ancient magic when she had stumbled upon Rufus, they had acknowledged each other, him remembering her just as Fairy Tail's particle mage, but Lia had then proceeded to ignore him, except after when she started pulling books, before she could touch it, the book would go flying towards Rufus, who would start reading it.

She continued to ignore him, but after the fourth time he did the same thing, she be damned how he read those book so fast with no Gale-Force Reading glasses, she didn't stay quiet and turned to glare at him.

"You don't own the library, so stop going after the books I want to read" Lia told him

"Would it make a difference to you? I doubt you can memorize those books by tomorrow and pass the knowledge to the members of the Fairy Tail team, so you should leave" He told her not even bothering to look at her as he kept turning the pages of the book he was holding.

"It has nothing to do with tomorrow" She told him rolling her eyes, as she turned around spotting another book that looked interesting, but when she reached for it, it went flying again, her eyebrows twitched "That's it"

Rufus looked at her when the book disappeared midair, and appeared in her hands "Why else would you be reading on Ancient magic if not for tomorrow?" Rufus wondered, for everything he was confused by Fairy Tail, one minute they would be cheering loudly for taking a point or two, the next they would declare they were gonna win the entire games. And now on the day before the final game, they weren't getting ready for tomorrow, like he would believe that.

"I just happen to like reading and I find ancient magic interesting" She told him as she sat on one of the tables in the aisle "Put one and one together"

"Are you so confident you are going to win tomorrow, you're not bothering to get ready?" He asked her

"We're gonna win tomorrow" She declared "But who said we weren't getting ready. Getting overworked might just be the reason you lose, sometimes you just need to unwind and calm down." She looked up at him from her book "Everyone on the Fairy Tail team is doing just that, so tomorrow Fairy Tail will emerge as winner"

He chuckled as he pulled another book "I doubt it…Sabertooth's twin dragon may have lost for the first time against Natsu Dragneel, but I have no memory of Sabertooth losing the games, and It won't happen now"

Lia snorted surprising him "Honestly, that's you're weakness, and why you're going to lose" when she saw his raised eyebrow, she turned to face him book closed "Memories to you are facts, information, knowledge, they're numbers and figures…I won't say those aren't important, hell I use them for my magic, but we have something you guys just look down on"

"Power of feelings?" He suggested mockingly, he still doubted what their lady had said yesterday to Sting.

"You mock it as much as you want, but tomorrow you're gonna face it head on and then you'll know how strong it really is" Lia told him "We joined the game at first to fulfil an old man's wish" Lia thought back to Gildart's words "Then it also became because we wanted to do it as thanks for the members that never gave up on us" She thought of the members that stayed and hoped for their return through the seven years "And now, we're doing it to help a friend. We have more reasons and feeling related and more on stake, then to simply let it go"

Rufus wasn't convinced, but maybe he can use this, after all, she had something he wanted "Then how about a bet?" He suggested "on who wins the games"

"And what do you want if you win?" Lia asked with narrowed eyes

"Particle magic" He told her as her libs twitched into a smirk

"You can't memorize it, can you?" She asked him

"Maybe" He answered, although she was right, after all he can only memorize what he can see, but in her case the spell was being cast at molecular level, so he saw only the end result

"And if I win?" She asked him "You don't have anything I particularly want"

"I have tomes on ancient magic that I have collected over the years, I remember you saying you find ancient magic interesting." He stated

Lia thought about it, before a particular magic came in mind, one she hadn't been able to find books on "I do have a book I am looking for"

After they had made the bet, Lia had eventually wondered away into the novels section, she had enough to last her the day of dealing with the Sabertooth mage. She was lost into a particular novel, she didn't notice time pass till it was evening.

"Lia!" A female voice called as Lia snapped out of her reading daze and put the book down, to notice Mavis standing there

"First Master, how can I help you?" Lia asked her, before her eyes glanced to the nearby clock that told her it was late evening, she wondered where the time had went, then again she was almost done with the novel, so it was to be expected.

"I am gathering all the members participating in the games tomorrow so I can tell you all the plan" Mavis told her "Be in Bar Sun in an hour"

"Alright" Lia answered not surprised by the calculating look in the first's eyes, after all the first had helped her in her training during the three months, not that she had told anyone about that yet.

Mavis was gone in a blink of an eye, Lia looked at her novel longingly, before she gave in saying she would read another chapter and that it was still early.

Which was why she ended up having to keep teleporting to the bar, after she realized she was half an hour late.

"I'm here!" She shouted as she teleported into the bar, she looked back when she realized that she wasn't the only one that shouted, Gray had just opened the door and yelled out of breath.

"You're late" Erza told them sternly with narrowed eyes

"We were just about to go look for you" Laxus told them sighing and shaking his head

"What were you two even doing?" Gajeel asked them

"Well…" Lia started as she and Gray rubbed the back of their necks nervously.

Gray had just barely escaped Juvia and wasn't up to telling them about it, Lia herself just realized that Eiran would probably have her head when he realized she was on her own for most of the day.

"What matters is that you're here now" Mavis said as they all turned to her "Now, I can tell you all about the plan" Gray took a seat at one of the tables, while Lia just leaned against one of the pillars, she was still a bi stiff from sitting during her entire reading session.

"About that how are we supposed to plan for something we don't even know?" Gajeel asked as Laxus nodded

"All we know is that it's a survival battle" Laxus said

"It's usually a battle royal between guilds" Lia said as she remembered, the others focused on her "What changes every year is how the points are collected, but what is constant is it's an all-out battle with the other teams"

"That's correct" Mavis confirmed "I have observed the enemy, I took all factors into account and have thought of all possibilities And I have already ran all possible simulations for what would happen tomorrow, and has thus chosen the best way for us to win"

"Wait what?" Erza asked

"I can with all confidence predict what will happen tomorrow" Mavis told them

"Predict?" Gajeel questioned

Lia grinned; she was like a kid in a candy store. She got the chance to see her role model in action "The First Master, is a master strategist whose strategies had won several wars" Lia told the shocked four "The Fairy Tactician!"

* * *

"Oh boy…" Lia muttered as she saw who was waiting in front of their hotel. After the planning session that lasted a couple of hours, she, Laxus and Gajeel went on their way heading back to their hotel to get a few hours of sleep before tomorrow.

Lia though paled when she saw Eiran was in front of their hotel and obviously waiting for someone, and who a) followed him on his 'Date' and ran when they got caught. b) Might have spent the entire day by herself, when she was given clear instructions to not do that.

"What did you do to him?" Gajeel asked her amused at the horror struck expression on her face "This might be fun to watch"

"It won't, you might get caught in the middle" Laxus told him before looking at Lia "And he already saw you, you can't escape him" Lia shoulders sagged, she was just thinking about teleporting straight to their room.

"Hey, guys" Eiran greeted weakly "Do you mind giving us a moment?" He asked looking at Gajeel.

"Have fun" Gajeel grinned as Lia threw him quick glare as he disappeared into the building, but she was warry he didn't ask Laxus to leave.

Eiran sighed passing a hand through his hair "It's not about following us today, Lia" He told her, as Lia frowned

"That makes me even more reluctant to talk about it" Lia told him

"Is it about Eptá?" Laxus asked as Eiran nodded

"I told Master" Eiran told Lia, who stood straight and was rigid, her face blank, Laxus was shocked, he had rarely seen Lia hold a blank look like this "Actually, the first knows now too, she was there and Master explained the situation to her before"

"So that's why she picked me to be on the team in the games" Lia stated quietly "It's in the open where no one can snatch me in the middle of an entire crowd watching" Her arms crossed, she only had a small part in tomorrow's plan too, a part which could have done by anyone.

"It's not like that, Lia…" Eiran started "Just promise me that you won't do anything stupid tomorrow"

"Fine" She muttered slowly "I am going to bed, good night!" She headed to the door of the inn before stopping and sighing "stay safe tomorrow, and come back alive, all of you!" She said to Eiran before heading inside, the latter sighed.

Laxus who had stayed quiet during the entire conversation turned to Eiran with a raised eyebrow "What happened?"

"I was gonna tell you anyway, so you can keep an eye on her if you can, her definition of stupid is far different from us" Eiran told him "Yesterday, after we left the infirmary and started making our way to the rest of the guild, Lia sensed someone, he was familiar to her senses, so we went to check it out and he turned to be a mage from Eptá who's been keeping an eye on her" Eiran grimaced "He had a message to deliver to us, to Lia from their master"

* * *

 _Xenos smirked "Master said to tell you 'to be careful, and not to worry we will not come for you now unless you go and do something as reckless as Tenroujima again, and that we're only keeping an eye on you out of concern after all…" and his smirk widened_

 _"…a father does worry about his only daughter'"_

* * *

 ***Cackles Evilly* so what do you think about the reveal? :D I have been debating when and how to do it since the start of the story! :3**


	36. GMG: The start of Day five!

**No new reviews T_T**

 **On the other hand, this chapter tired me out! Hope you guys like it! And thanks to all the new followers and Favorites! :D Hope you like this chapter and keep enjoying the story! ;)**

 **Here's the longest chapter yet, twice as much as any other chapter! I didn't even realize it was so long till I was publishing it XD**

* * *

 **Year x767**

It was afternoon in Magnolia, a little Lia, with her hair in a short ponytail and wearing a dress, was walking beside Sophia, holding her hand, the latter having just returned today from a long job and had just took Lia from the guild, since she had been staying with Makarov and Laxus, the older man always volunteered to take care of Lia.

"Alright, what are you thinking about?" Sophia asked her daughter, who had a thoughtful look and was too quiet, which was the complete opposite of how Lia was when Sophia usually returned from a job.

"Mommy, are all dads scary?" Lia asked, as Sophia raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Why are you asking that?" Sophia countered

"Umm…Laxus's dad is scary…I don't like him." Lia answered with a slight shudder, which made Sophia cough to mask the laughter threatening to break, it was good to know she and her daughter both were somewhat on the same page when it came to Ivan. "But Laxus likes him, so I thought maybe dads are supposed to be scary"

Sophia coughed again for good measures, "N-No, not all dads are scary" Sophia answered "Ivan is a…a special case"

"Hmm" Lia mused before asking another question "What about my dad?"

"Eh?" Sophia stopped walking looking down at her daughter caught off guard

"How was my dad?" Lia asked again looking up at her mother.

* * *

 **Year x791**

Lia stood in the balcony of the hotel room staring at the horizon, as the night sky started changing colors as the dawn approached.

She had woken up after another one of the weird dreams, the ones she thought were memories, even though all sounds in them were muted, and most of it blurred out, they still could amount to nightmares with how the left her feeling.

She had barely gotten two hours of sleep, and with the events coming today she knew she would regret it, at least by the end of the day, it's not like she had that big part to do, she just had to take down one person and maybe assist in taking down one or two other persons.

Then her mind wandered into the other issue on her mind. Any normal person would question a message like the one Xenos gave them, would probably think it was a lie or a ruse, but Lia knew he wasn't lying, it was like he was reminding her of something she forget, which she did forget, but she knew it wasn't a lie, it was the familiar feeling again that told her that.

The problem was how she felt about it, why she had been trying to keep herself busy and forget about it, why she drank herself unconscious that day, why she spent yesterday trying to numb her mind from thinking about it, she hated the man, and it wasn't mild hate, or one that can be easily let go of, it was the first time she felt like this and it scared her, she wanted him dead, preferably by her hands.

She hadn't felt like that when they were told Lucy was taken by the royal army, they would just save her. She didn't feel like that when she found out Eiran told her Eptá was the ones that killed her mother or that they were responsible for her four missing years, she were more focused on trying to figure out how to make sure her family didn't get caught in the cross fire which was sure to happen when Eptá came for her.

But when it came to her supposed father, the supposed master of Eptá, who was most likely the one to order the death of her mother, if he hadn't done it himself, she felt nothing but hate and she found herself wanting to seek the man and kill him.

She had asked her mother before about her father and every single time her mom didn't answer, instead Sophia would get this thoughtful expression, her eyes would glaze over as she got lost in her thoughts, and Lia would watch as in the midst of that Sophia's mouth would sometimes smile then turn into a frown, she would watch as her eyes, held love mixed with sadness, with unshed tears, and Sophia would only snap out of it when Lia or anyone else would call for the woman loudly.

She never got a straight answer but her childish mind and her over active imagination would make stories, a loving father that maybe died on a job or who had gone on one and yet to return, that one day he'll come back and the sadness that her mother felt would be gone.

But her mother died because of him, the man she loved, and she hated him for it, her mother to be betrayed by the man she loved like this made her blood boil, and the ugly feeling to grow.

"Easy on the railing" A voice told her which made Lia jump, taking her off guard and snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Laxus!" She called surprise, the said guy was standing beside her and she didn't even know how long he's been there, before she looked down on the railing to find her magic had reacted to her feelings and broken the surface of the stone railing. "Oops" She sighed and went to look at the horizon where the sun was starting to rise "What are you doing up so early?"

She wasn't that shocked to notice Laxus was only wearing pants and his chest exposed, she was shocked the first night of the games, but she still opted to stare at the horizon than to look at him.

"You're one to talk" He countered "Have you even slept at all?"

"I asked first!" She replied, reflexively she turned to look at him, which surprised her as she saw he was frowning at her as he looked at her "Laxus?" She questioned at the look in his eyes

"I never thought I would see you of all people with that expression…" He told her, which surprised her "You really want to kill someone? You're ready to go that far?"

Lia frowned, "I don't know" She replied, she herself never knew her thoughts would ever go that far, and when it came to real life, she didn't know, would she really do it? If given the chance, would she kill the man? "It doesn't matter though" She wouldn't let anyone see her darkness, or even get involved with the people causing it.

"It matters, I know what you're thinking" Laxus told her sternly

"Since when are you a telepath?" She asked snorting

"About the same time, you started being one" Laxus retorted, she had shocked him so many times before with knowing what was on his mind, he didn't like though that when he could do the same was because she hated someone enough to be willing to kill him, he had been there before.

"I don't like it, Laxus, I don't…I don't even want to feel like this, it just happened" She choked out, before shaking her head "Lets just…can we forget about it? At least till we go back home" She didn't want to have deal with her emotion crises just before the final day of the games, which Lucy's freedom depended on, she just had to find a way to keep her min occupied till the games started.

"Alright" He told her and he surprised himself and her when he pulled her into a hug "Just don't think about doing that again, it's not you"

"A-Ah" She replied mutely as she felt her face heat up, and successfully mind occupied.

* * *

On the 6th of July, the final day of the Grand Magic Games was met with excitement and anticipation.

"At last! At last, it's here! The final day of the wizards' passionate festival, the Grand Magic Games! Like it or not, only one guild will be victorious today!" Chapati announced "I'm your emcee, Chapati, and next to me is a former council member, Mr. Yajima, who will provide the commentary. Our special guest is none other than the mascot of the Grand Magic Games, Mato! You don't have to judge today, Mato?"

"Not today-kabo! Everyone, do your best-kabo!" Mato replied "Now then, the teams are about to take the field-kabo!"

With a small explosion, the Quatro Puppy insignia appeared in the air "Currently in 6th place! Can they turn it around?! Formerly a hunting dog now a puppy! Quatro Puppy!" Chapati introduced them as the five members led by Bacchus entered the arena

"Although he's been trounced once, you can't underestimate the power of the drunken hawk, Bacchus." Yajima said

"Alright! Next up on the field is…" Chapati started as glitter filled the sky before the Blue Pegasus insignia appeared "…Blue Pegasus, led by the current master of parfum, Ichiya Wanderlei Kotobuki!" as the said team walked into the arena.

"They're currently in 5th place…" Mato added "…but in the end, will they be able to grasp the parfum of victory-kabo?"

In a shining light, Lamia Scale's insignia appeared "Here they are! Lamia Scale is on the field!" Chapati announced as the team walked into the field "Right now, they're in fourth place but will Ice wizard Lyon Vastia, who rivals or surpasses Fairy Tail's Gray Fullbuster, lead his team to victory?!"

"And we can't forget Jura Neekis, one of the ten Great Wizard Saints!" Mato added

"A team you'd never get tired of." Yajima commented

"And in third place…" Chapati started as a water beam shoot into the sky before the Mermaid Heel's insignia appeared from it "…Mermaid Heel!"

"They're large flowers that have bloomed during the tournament, but they're not only glamorous…" Yajima commented, as the team walked into the field.

"The team leader, Kagura Mikazuchi, is as calm as ever. There's something scary about her-kabo." Mato added

On the lacrima screens, appeared the Sabertooth insignia as the crowds broke into larger cheers "And currently in second place! Will they remain dethroned?! Will the two Dragon Slayers, the twin Dragons, Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney, challenge Natsu and Gajeel again?! And if so, what will the results of that rematch be?!" Chapati announced "Sabertooth takes the field!" The said teams didn't turn to the crowd or react in any way "Huh? It seems their mood has changed somehow."

"Maybe they've jump-started their fighting spirit." Yajima suggested

"That's cool-kabo!" Mato said

"And currently in first place! Will this be the day the so-called strongest guild seven years ago comes back in full force?!" Chapati announced "Fairy Tail is taking the field!" The said team walked into the field, causing confusion on the absence of Natsu. "Huh?!"

"K-Kabo?!" Mato wondered

"W-What?! They've changed the members! This is an unexpected development! In place of Natsu Dragneel, we've got Lia Sephiran!" Chapati announced, Lia stood with her team, both Erza and Lia dressed in the clothes they got yesterday.

"Natsu was instrumental in the tag team battle, so why isn't he here?" Chapati wondered

"Maybe something happened?" Yajima suggested

"All right! The Grand Magic Games has reached it's climax at last!" Chapati announced "In 6th place, Quatro Puppy with 15 points! In 5th place, Blue Pegasus with 30 points! In 4th place, Lamia Scale with 37 points!"

"The final day of the festival. All of the guilds are fired up." Jura told his team

"With every right, I don't think the game has been this exciting in a long time" Anise added

"In 3rd place, Mermaid Heel with 40 points!" Chapati said "In 2nd place, Sabertooth with 44 points!" as the crowds cheered "And in 1st place, Fairy Tail, with 45 points!"

At the same time rushing towards the castle was the infiltration team, Natsu led the group with Wendy, Mira and Eiran right behind him and flying beside them, were Lily, Happy and Carla.

"It sounds like the final battle of the Grand Magic Games is starting." Mira stated as she heard the loud cheers coming from Domus Flau and saw the fireworks in the sky.

"All right! Now's our chance!" Natsu said

"Aye, sir!" Happy said

"While everyone is absorbed in the tournament, we'll rescue Lucy." Lily said "A battle fought on two fronts…"

"Given the circumstances this was our best option." Carla added

"We couldn't very well leave it to chance, even the smallest chance that we lose the games would mean we can't save Lucy" Eiran said

"But how can we sneak into the palace without getting caught?" Wendy wondered

"I have a good idea!" Happy spoke up

"I bet it's a stupid one!" Carla said as Lily agreed

"What are you talking about?" Happy said as he laughed, as he had the four mages in their group wear ridiculous costumes. Eiran didn't appreciate that the costume he had looked very much like what that exceed from Sabertooth wore, pink and all. "See? Perfect disguises!"

"That's way too suspicious!" Carla told him with a deadpan

"It's okay! We already figured out what to do!" Mira told them as Eiran nodded

Back in the arena the final day was just about to start "Show us your fighting skills! Your magic! And the bond you have with your comrades!" Chapati stated "The final day! A survival game in which everyone participates! Let the Grand Magic Game begin!"

"And for this final battle, the battlefield is the entire city of Crocus-kabo!" Mato said

"The members of each guild have already dispersed and are standing by." Yajima announced

"The teams run around and if they encounter an enemy guild, a battle ensues." Chapati explained "If an opponent loses consciousness or becomes unable to fight, the other side will gain one point."

"And each guild assigns one leader." Yajima added

"Although the guilds don't know who the other guild leaders are-kabo!" Mato added

"If the leader is defeated the other team gets five points. So theoretically, the highest score could be 45 points." Chapati explained "Every guild has a chance to win."

The crowd was watching through the lacrima vision the teams each waiting at a different part of the town. "Should the team stay together and fight or split up?" Yajima wondered

"That depends on your strategy-kabo!" Mato said

In town where the Fairy Tail team was "Listen. We have no choice but to win. To get Lucy back!" Erza told them

"It's Natsu's and the other's job to try and rescue her…" Lia said

"But we can't pin our hopes on that." Gajeel finished

"Even so, we've got another motive for winning this thing." Gray said

"We gotta win for the guys in the guild who had it rough while we were gone these seven tears." Laxus said

"And we do have to fulfill Gildart's wish for Fairy Tail to become number one again" Lia added grinning; she would forget about everything else for now and focus on this one goal.

Just then in the arena lights started rising into the sky "Who will attain the glorious peak of magic?!" Chapati started and his voice carried all over town "Let the Grand Magic Game begin!" The lights exploded in a flurry of colors, signaling the beginning of the games.

"Let's go!" Erza said

"Yeah!" All the members of Fairy Tail team said together.

The crowds broke into cheers excited to see the finale "Well! The final battle has begun at last!" Chapati announced

"Yes. It seems many of the teams are splitting up to fight individually." Yajima commented as they watched through the lacrima vision

"Do your best, everyone-kabo!" Mato cheered

"The members of Sabertooth, each of whom has great fighting strength, have split up!" Chapati noted "Otherwise, some teams are using the buddy system, while others have formed a three-person cell."

That's when they all noticed the oddity of one particular team "W-What's this?!" Chapati wondered along with the entire crowd including their own guild members, as the Fairy Tail team was shown standing in place with their eyes closed. "W-What's wrong?! The members of Fairy Tail have their eyes closed and aren't moving!"

"What the hell are they doing?!" Makarov shouted from where he stood with the rest of the guild

"W-What is this?" Lisanna asked

"I don't know!" Cana answered before shouting at the lacrima "The devil takes the hindmost! Hurry up and start kicking ass!"

"Is it a plan or what?" Venus questioned

But the Fairy Tail team didn't budge an inch "Fairy Tail's odd behavior is curious…" Chapati stated "…but other people have already made contact with the enemy!"

At that moment Novali from Quatro Puppy ran into Yuka and Tobi and was easily defeated by them, at that moment the trimens ran into Mermaid Heel's Arania and Beth, but before they could fight a large wave of water hit the area.

"What the…" Eve wondered as Ren protected the three of them with his magic, while Arania and Beth were down, when the wave subsided Anise was standing there and the trimens had escaped.

"With those three points, Lamia Scale ties for 3rd place with Mermaid Heel!" Chapati announced "All right, the scores are on the move! Unlike the members of Fairy Tail, who are still just standing there!"

At this point their guild members were yelling at the screens demanding the Fairy Tail team to move.

At that time Lyon and Jura took out Semas and Yeager respectively, with that Lamia took 3rd alone now with 42 points, while Quatro Puppy was reduced down to two members.

Yuka and Toby ran right into Bacchus but before they could fight him, he was taken out by Sting. As Sabertooth points rose to 49 and they took first place.

Kagura took down both Yuka and Tobi before Sting escaped her, with those two points Mermaid tied with Lamia again, before they took the lead on Lamia when Millianna took down Quatro Puppy's last member Rocker.

"That's another point, bringing them up to 43!" Chapati announced "Wow, Mermaid is really putting the pressure on!"

"And I think Puppy is already wiped out?" Yajima questioned

"Wild-kabo!" Mato cheered

"The points are increasing at a dizzying rate! But Fairy Tail has yet to move a muscle!" Chapati commented "What's going on with them?!"

"What are they doing?! They've gotta win to help Lucy!" Makarov bellows

"That's why." Mavis started "That's why they must be calm. From all of the previous competitions, I've observed the enemies fighting strength, magic, psychology, and behavioral patterns. I took it all into account and ran hundreds of millions of battle simulations in my head." The entire guild was now focused on her

"Um…" Macao started

"First, what…?" Wakaba asked

"Their movements, predictions and results, locations. It's all gone according to my calculations. " Mavis stated "I've already told them the strategy."

At that moment the Fairy Tail team members opened their eyes, they had memorized the first's plan to the point they were all moving in sync with her words "Lead your comrades to victory…That's my war." Mavis stated standing up "Begin Operation: Fairy Star!"

"Roger!" The Fairy team replied almost as hearing her words before they took off each on his own

"Finally! Fairy Tail has finally started to move!" Chapati announced

Elsewhere, at Mercuruis, the royal palace, Natsu and Wendy were both tied up and led by one of the guards.

"Hey, what do you want? And who are you?!" One of the guards at the gate asked the guard holding the two dragon slayers.

"Intruders. I'm sure they've come to save that Fairy girl." The guard holding the two said

"Fairy Tail?" The second guard at the gate questioned "His Majesty and the Minister of Defense are both out…"

"We'll just have to throw'em in the dungeon. Take'em." The first guard said

"Roger" The guard holding Natsu and Wendy said as he started heading one way before he was stopped by one of the guards

"Hey, the dungeon is that way." The guard told him as he apologized and led Natsu and Wendy to the right direction.

Once down the right path Wendy smiled at the guard "Mira is brilliant!" Wendy said as Natsu grinned and Mira transformed her face back to normal again. Inside the guards clothes were the three Exceed huddled together.

"Aye!" Happy agreed with Mira

"I'm squished!" Carla commented

"Hurry up and get me out of here!" Lily said

A weasel ran towards them "This way I found her!" He told them in a voice that obviously belonged to Eiran

"I didn't know you could use transformation magic!" Natsu commented as they followed him like this till they were sure they were unseen.

Back at the games in the cheering stands. "Everyone, spread out! Please proceed to the next checkpoint." Mavis recited, It was the plan she given them yesterday

"F-First…" Makarov called as he and the others stared at her

"What's the checkpoint?" Jet asked

"I don't know." Droy replied

"I think Lia mentioned something about the First before…" Raine muttered

On the battlefield, all of the Fairy Tail members were on the move, and already spread out to the points or heading to where they were supposed to be.

"First off, Rufus attacks" Lia muttered as she recalled what the first told them, as on schedule she sensed the mage's magic and saw the lights "Two…one…" She stopped raised her right hand only as the lightning attribute magic headed straight for her an orange red tinted magic circle appeared "Destroy!"

Lia smirked; if she can't fight the guy might as well show him how unfazed by his magic she was. At this point shaken and disordered, Rufus didn't react.

Erza ran into Jenny from Blue Pegasus taking her down. Gajeel ran into the trimen taking down Eve and Ren, while Gray took down Hibiki who had ran from Gajeel.

"That's the First for you" Lia muttered as she heard the announcement along with the fact they were tied for first place with 49 points, she herself was running, she was supposed to keep circling till it was time to face her enemy.

At that point Jura took down Ichiya, which had Lamia rise to third alone with 47 points and put Blue Pegasus out of the competition. At another spot was Anise who had just taking down Risley from Mermaid Heel, so Lamia had now 48 points.

"Mermaids keep falling down against Lamia's water mage!" Chapati announced "As they rise to third with 48 points!"

Inside the palace, in the dungeons, at Lucy and Yukino's cell. "Lucy…" Someone called in a whisper, the blonde mage looked up from where she slept before lying down again "Lucy!" The voice called louder as Lucy looked up shocked to see them.

"Natsu! Wendy! Mira and Eiran, too! I…" She called loudly running to the bars before Natsu covered her mouth with his hand telling her to be quiet "Sorry!" She apologized when Natsu let go

"We're here, too!" The Exceed called from behind

"Everyone!" Lucy called

"You look good, anyway" Carla told her

"How did you get in here?" Yukino asked

"Never mind that, just back up!" Natsu said before he melted the bars and made a hole for the girls to pass.

"Here, we brought a change of clothes." Mira told Lucy

"Thanks, everyone!" Lucy thanked them, Wendy and Yukino held a large sheet so Lucy can change behind.

"We have some for you too, Yukino" Wendy told the other girl

"Just hurry, we don't know when the patrols will come" Eiran told them as he and Natsu kept look out.

"Now we just have to think of a way to escape." Carla said

"If possible, we should slip out of the palace without attracting anyone's attention." Lily said

"Well we thought you, Happy and Carla would fly Lucy, Yukino, Wendy and Natsu out of here" Eiran told them "Mira and I can use transformation magic to get out."

"Wait a second. They still have our keys." Lucy told them while still changing "First, we have to look for that guy with the scarred nose…"

At the moment the ground started shaking, before it opened under them. "Everyone!" Natsu called

"The floor!" Happy called

"What is this?!" Wendy asked

"I'm still getting dressed!" Lucy called

"Mira! Lily! Happy! Carla! Grab who you can and fly now!" Eiran called

At that the Exceed used their Aera magic as Mira used her Satan soul grabbing Yukino, while Happy grabbed Natsu, Carla grabbed Eiran, and Lily transformed and grabbed Wendy and Lucy.

But as the floor closed they could only head down for now, which was pretty deep and took them a while till the finally reached ground.

"What the hell is this?" Natsu asked as the Exceed landed and their Aera magic stopped and Mira stopped using her magic as well.

"Welcome to Hell Palace." A voice echoed

"Who are you?" Lucy asked

"You fell right into the trap." The voice continued

"Trap, you say?" Carla questioned confused

"Look around you. This is the capital of death, Hell Palace." The voice told them "The final freedom, where all criminals end up. However, no one has ever gotten out." A screen appeared to show an emerald green haired girl "Rot down there, rebels!"

"Who the hell are you?!" Natsu questioned

"I'm Hisui E. Fiore, the princess of the kingdom of Fiore!" She introduced

"Then she's the princess of this palace?" Mira questioned

"Scary…" Lucy said

"Dammit! Where's the freaking exit?!" Natsu shouted before the screen disappeared.

"I can't even see an entrance, let alone the exit." Lily said

"I am guessing the entrance is how we came." Eiran said as he looked at the far off roof

"What should we do?!" Wendy freaked out as they looked around the seemingly endless unground area.

Back on the surface the games were about to get exciting.

"Oh, my! Fairy Tail's Gray and Sabertooth's Rufus are going to duel in the library area!" Chapati announced

Lia grinned everything was going according to the First's plan, she was still heading for where she was supposed to meet her opponent, but she still had time according to the first's plan.

She had said she had a small part in the plan, but then again had it been the original plan, she would be heading to fight Rufus right now, instead of Gray.

* * *

 _Last night in bar sun…_

 _"So Rufus has the same ability as me to sense people?" Lia repeated to confirm_

 _"That's right. I believe Rufus should be defeated first." Mavis said "Lia you have the best chance to defeat him, so…"_

 _"Wait a second, First!" Gray interrupted "Let me do it." Making all of them look at him._

 _Mavis looked away a second later "According to my calculations, you and Rufus aren't a very good match for each other. The chance of you winning are very…"_

 _"I don't give a damn about that!" He bellowed "I'm gonna help Lucy. And also pay him back for kickin' my ass before. Let me fight as a Fairy Tail wizard!"_

 _"Gray…if you're gonna fight Rufus with molding magic, the only way to beat him is out speed his ability to memorize" Lia told him, as he turned to her. "You'll have to mold your magic so fast that he can't see it, that's the only way for you to nullify his magic."_

* * *

Lia had wanted to fight Rufus, she was excited when the First had told her that she was going to fight him, but she knew Gray's conviction in this one was stronger.

Besides wasn't she the one to preach Rufus on the power of feelings, what better way to show him than having him beat by Gray, who had the stronger conviction for this one.

Besides it's not like her opponent was anything to scoff at.

In the stands where the rest of the Fairy Tail guild was "Molding Magic versus Molding Magic…" Levy commented

"That guy gave Gray a whuppin' before. Is he gonna be okay?" Elfman wondered

"Of course he will be fine" Juvia said confidently

Romeo turned to Mavis "Did you calculate this too, first?"

"Yes" She replied

"Then Gray's gonna win this fight." Warren stated

"What kind of strategy did you give him?" Max asked

"I don't know if he's going to win or lose." Mavis replied surprising everyone.

"You don't know?" Levy repeated worriedly

"Then how can he have a chance at winning?" Elfman asked

"I don't know" Mavis replied "But he just has to win. Rufus is the key to Sabertooth's fall."

The battle between Gray and Rufus commenced, Gray making the first move with his Freeze Lancer, but Rufus dodged as he memorized the spell, Gray followed with his Ice impact but Rufus dodged again and memorized the spell.

Rufus then sowed his memory make magic, by combining Orga's black lightning and Gray's ice molding magic to cast Sword of Frozen Black Lightning, as Gray dodged back.

Rufus followed with Shrine of the raging wind fang, as multiple tornadoes headed straight for Gray, the latter countered with his Ice shield, only for Rufus to memorize it and then forgetting it, making the shield disappear, and the attack hit Gray head on.

"H-His shield disappeared!" Romeo commented shocked

"How can someone defeat a magic like that?" Sol wondered shocked too

Gray struggled to stand as Rufus started reading some of the fallen books and memorizing the different magic in them. Before Rufus gathered his magic for a new spell, the spell surrounded Gray before soldiers made of ice appeared.

The soldiers headed straight for Gray, Gray tried to counter but the soldiers were too much and he fell again as the soldiers disappeared. Rufus attack with another spell, before he started memorizing more spells, Gray froze the books in return but Rufus told him he had already read all of them, before he attacked again, causing an explosion.

Lia had stopped momentarily to watch the fight on the Lacrima vision, she bit her lip nervously "Come on Gray…"

As the battle continued, deep underground was the infiltration team still lost in Hell Palace.

"We keep walking and walking but there's no exit…" Lucy said tiredly

"Didn't we pass by here before?" Lily asked

"Who knows, this entire place looks the same" Eiran replied as Natsu smelled the air

"Well, Natsu?" Mira asked him

"No good. Nobody's gotten out of here in a long time." Natsu answered

"That spells trouble for us." Mira said

"Wendy, any change in the air current?" Eiran asked the younger girl who shook her head

"I'm Sorry, but I can't tell where the air is coming from, it's too still here." She answered

"Come to think of it, Dragon Slayers have a strong sense of smell, right?" Yukino wondered

"But human odors don't hang around for long." Wendy told her before Lucy turned wondering where Happy was, only for the blue Exceed to scare her while wearing a human skull.

"What are you doing?!" Lucy asked them freaked out

Natsu picked another skull "Look at the skulls lying over there."

"Don't pick it up!" Lucy told him

"What's with you?" He asked her

"Well, this is the capital of death…I guess I could say." Lily noted

"Princess Hisui said this is the final freedom, where all criminals end up." Carla recalled

"This is Freedom? Not despair?" Lily wondered

"She said we wouldn't get outta here but gimme a freaking break." Natsu said "Just for that, we're definitely gonna get out. I'm fired up."

"That's right! If she thinks we'll give up, she's sorely mistaken!" Lucy said confident

"If we split up, I'm sure we'll find a clue to an exit." Wendy stated just as confident

'You're all so strong." Yukino told them

"Well, most of it is that we just don't give in." Mira told her

"If push comes to shove, we'll make our own way out of here" Eiran said

"Let's hang in there! Every pinch has some kind of way out." Lucy said

A little while later though "Um…Everyone…" Yukino called as she watched the Fairy Tail members on the ground.

"No matter how many rocks I destroy, there are more rocks!" Natsu said depressed

"I guess there are pinches that have no way out…" Lucy said

"Even though we split up, we didn't find anything." Wendy said

They continued to despair, before Happy said he had a plan snapping them out of it. Happy thought that they probably had the guards watching them somehow, so his plan was to somehow lure the guards to where they were, and then they find out how to get out from here from the guards.

His plan for luring the guards though was for Mira and Lucy to strip to attract them, which they ended finding some 7 year old sorcerer's weekly issues, with picture of Mira and Lucy, before they actually started doing the plan.

Back in the library though was the fight between Gray and Rufus still going on, and Gray still being beat up by Rufus. Rufus used a spell that increased the gravity at where Gray was, as the latter was almost getting crushed.

Gray despite that, pushed himself into a standing position before he gathered his magic and attacked Rufus who dodged. Gray stripped off his top, much to everyone's surprise, and Juvia's enjoyment. He started gathering his magic before he released a molding spell that was too fast for Rufus to memorize, shocking the latter.

He didn't stop there he molded another one too fast for Rufus to memorize again that attacked and froze the latter. Rufus countered with a fire spell that headed straight for Gray, but Gray came out of the flame unharmed, running till he was right in front of Rufus, saying he remembered flames hotter than that as he gathered his magic, and in one hit from his Ice Bringer finished off Rufus.

"Gray did it! Fairy Tail won! Rufus lost!" Chapati announced as the crowd broke into cheers "Gray Fullbuster won the Molding Magic showdown! He's brilliantly avenged the robbery of the first place during the 'Hidden' event on the first day of the Grand Magic Games!"

"The invincible Rufus…!" Mato called shocked

"What a close contest!" Chapati commented

"I guess he was just out-endured by Gray." Yajima said

"Fairy Tail receives precious points here!" Chapati stated as the said guild rejoiced and cheered "Now let's take a look at the current score! Fairy Tail is in first place with 50 points! There are five people left, with the leader and four normals."

"Sabertooth is in second place with 49 points!" Mato said "Rufus lost, but with the fluctuating points, there are three normals and the leader left-kabo!"

"In third is Lamia Scale with 48 points, They've got two normals and the leader left." Yajima said

"Mermaid Heel is in fourth place with 43 points. They've got the leader and one normal left." Chapati announced "Well, Fairy Tail is alone at the top."

"And all five members are in good condition." Yajima said

"Fairy Tail has gained the advantage-kabo." Mato said

Lia didn't stop to watch the screens this time, she kept moving as she heard the score being called "Everything is going to plan so far" She muttered a bit relieved, that was one less thing to worry about for now, on the other hand…

She looked up at the sky, so far the infiltration team hadn't released the flare that signaled they had done the job, they were taking too long and it worried her.

Deep underground were the infiltration team sans Eiran, Happy and Carla, gathered around an unconscious Natsu on the ground.

"Natsu! Natsu, come on! Wake up!" Lucy called desperately

"He's not even twitching" Wendy noted

"Can't your magic do something, Wendy?" Mira asked her

"No. My power isn't strong enough to do anything." Wendy replied with tears in her eyes, before she started crying "I'm sorry! If only I knew more magic, this wouldn't have happened!"

"It's not your fault!" Lucy told her "Come on, Natsu, you're upsetting Wendy!"

"It ain't my fault!" Natsu said weakly as he got up on his knees "I'm so hungry I can't walk another step!"

"And nothing in here looks the least bit edible." Mira said

"Will we end up eating… _you know?_ " Lily wondered as he stared at human skulls

"That's scary talk, so stop it!" Lucy yelled at him, Eiran walked towards them frowning

"Anything?" Mira asked him as he shook his head, after Natsu had fell, Eiran went ahead to scout while the rest can rest a bit, but he couldn't find anything.

"Just the same like before" Eiran said sighing

"Natsu!" Happy called as he and Carla came back as well

"Any luck, Happy?" Natsu asked him

"No. Even the ceiling is totally sealed off." Happy answered

"I don't think there is an exit in here." Carla told them

"Dammit! After we walked all the way here!" Natsu said

"The hunters have become the hunted, huh?" Mira stated

"Pitiful…" Wendy said

"We've walked for miles. How big is this place?" Lucy wondered

"I happened to overhear this. The underground area beneath the palace is ten times as wide as the capital, Crocus." Yukino told them

"I didn't wanna hear that." Lucy said

"If I'd known this was going to happen, I would've drawn a map on my body." Lily said, as Eiran sweat dropped at him.

"We didn't even know the place existed till we were here" Eiran told him "Anyway, if we can't find a way out, we'll just have to wait till the guild wins the games, they'll get us out."

"That's right!" Wendy agreed

"Come to think of it, Natsu. What about the games?" Lucy asked him

"Lia took my place." Natsu told her

"He was all, 'I'm gonna save Lucy!'" Happy teased

"Yeah, well…" Natsu blanked

"Oh, stop! You're making me feel bashful!" Lucy told them cheerfully

"It's strange. Despite the circumstances, being with all of you makes me feel at ease." Yukino told them

"Maybe that's because you're with friends." Mira told her, surprising the girl, who looked away frowning.

"Friends…" Yukino repeated

They continued to walk further "I'll tell you one thing. I didn't forget about you either." Natsu told Yukino

"Oh, you don't have to…" Yukino told him "That aside, um, there's something I want to tell you, Natsu."

"What is it?" Natsu asked her

"While we were in captivity, Lucy told me. When I was expelled from Sabertooth, you became furious and stormed Crocus Garden." Yukino recalled as Natsu stared away nervously

"Y-Yeah…I remember that." Natsu replied

"This means he totally doesn't remember it!" Happy said in the background

"He forgets things too quickly!" Lucy added

"Anyway, aren't you with the kingdom's Alpaca Pals or whatever club? Sorry if we got you involved in our trouble." Natsu told her

"It's Arcadios!" Happy corrected

"No. I'd always wanted to be in Sabertooth, so I truly was shocked when they kicked me out." Yukino told them "Right now, I'm just a provisional member of the Royal Armed Forces."

"It's also true that she has nowhere to go home to." Lucy told them "Both of her parents passed away when she was a child and her big sister went missing."

This made Mira falter in her step while Eiran frowned. "I see…" Natsu said

Yukino stopped walking "That's why I felt so happy when I heard you fought on my behalf, Natsu." She turned to him and bowed "Thank you."

"Wha…?! I don't need any thanks." Natsu told her hurriedly

"After all, you don't even remember doing it, right?" Lucy teased him

"The only thing Natsu remembers properly is food" Eiran said with a sweat drop

"Yukino Agria. She's quite a loyal girl." Lily said

"You like making those kinds of pronouncements, don't you, Lily?" Happy asked him

"You wanna have a little talk later, huh?" Lily threatened Happy who deflated

"No, I was just kidding. Sorry…" Happy replied scared

Mira walked behind Yukino and held the girl's shoulders "Hey, everyone, don't you think she kind of looks like Lisanna?"

"Now that you mention it…" Lucy noted

"Who's Lisanna?" Yukino asked as Mira smiled at her

"She's my little sister." Mira told her making Yukino smile. Just then the cave started shaking around them.

"What's this?" Natsu wondered as he sniffed the air

"I feel flowing air" Wendy said

"Which means…" Lily started taking the lead

"We'll check it out!" Carla said following him

"Maybe a wall crumbled from that shaking?" Lucy wondered

"This smell…I remember it from somewhere." Natsu said

Carla came back calling "Everyone! There's a crevice over here I think we can pass through!" as Happy cheered her, they headed there and started to pass through it, in the front was Wendy, Natsu and the Exceed followed by Lucy and Yukino, trailing at the end Mira and Eiran.

"It seems more like it's been melted than a natural crevice." Lily commented

"If that's the case then the shaking might have been a trick to make us think it was natural" Eiran added "Stay on guard, it might be a trap."

"Ah" Mira agreed

"We can just about squeeze through it." Wendy said

"It is narrow…" Lucy agreed

"Are you okay, Yukino?" Mira asked the other girl

"Yes, more or less." Yukino replied

The exceed had already passed, as Happy cheered Natsu when they were close to the end of the crevice, Wendy passed through before she tripped, Natsu tripped behind her and fell on her.

Lucy got stuck and Natsu had to pull her but the latter ended up falling on Natsu's face as the others passed through.

"Everyone, somebody's over there!" Natsu called as they followed her

"Sir Arcadios?!" Yukino called shocked to see him here and unconscious.

"I get it. It was this old man's scent." Natsu noted

"'Old man' isn't nice!" Lily reprimanded as they headed to the unconscious man.

"Hey, are you all right?! Wake up!" Natsu called as Happy wondered what he was doing here.

"He was dropped in here like we were." Lucy noted

"But how did he get those injuries?" Yukino wondered as Arcadios groaned and regained conscious

"Run!" He told them, Wendy started to heal him as Yukino asked him about how he got his injures.

"Don't worry about me! Get away from here!" Arcadios told them before they were attacked from behind, Natsu picked up Arcadios and jumped away as the others dodged as well.

"That's…" Lucy noted the markings left by the attack

"…acid!" Lily concluded

"The ground is melting!" Carla said

"Then that passage was…" Wendy said retreating

"…a trap" Eiran said as he looked straight at their assailant, before he turned to look at Wendy who squealed when another one appeared behind her.

They were all thrown away by the new person when he pulled a flag from the ground.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" Natsu asked but plants began to grow beside him, while Mira guarded Yukino as confetti flew in the air

"Now what?!" Mira asked

"Confetti?" Yukino wondered

The large flower behind Natsu opened to show a person, just as the confetti gathered showing another.

"Sir Arcadios, is this…" Yukino wondered

"I told you to get away from here!" Arcadios told them weakly as he pushed himself up on his arms.

"Old man, do you know these guys?" Natsu asked him

"They're an independent unit that supports the kingdom of Fiore from the shadows." Arcadios told them "They're the kingdom's strongest executioners. And their name is…"

"…the Garou knights." The fifth member to show up said "Mission 1500, begin."

"Executioners?" Natsu repeated

"The kingdom's strongest?" Lucy repeated worriedly

"I thought they were an urban legend." Yukino told them "They run criminals to the ground and then execute them. They're the kingdom's execution machine, so to speak. That's the Garou knights!"

"It's impossible to get out of this Hell Palace alive because of them!" Arcadios added

"We are Fiore's independent Garou knights." The one holding the two scythes said "And with the special authority granted to us, we will now execute the criminals."

Natsu started laughing "Hey, Natsu, at a time like this?" Lucy asked him

"Oh, sorry, but these losers don't look anything like knights!" Natsu pointed out

"Well, true…" Lucy agreed

"And their outfits don't match at all…" Wendy pointed out

"Especially you!" Natsu pointed at the one holding the flag

"Normally, knights would all look the same…" Mira said

"With armor and a helmet…" Wendy added

"…And swords or at least spears for weapons" Eiran said thoughtfully

"We've got individual freedom-tai. We're an independent unit that operates undercover." The one holding the flag told them "if we wore matching outfits we'd actually stand out-tai."

"Did I touch a nerve, headband bastard? Then hurry up and bring it on." Natsu taunted as Lucy yelled at him

"Talking like that…will make me mad!" The one holding the flag told him

"Don't be fooled by their appearance! The magic they use is designed to kill people!" Arcadios told them

"Huh. Magic designed to kill, eh?" Natsu wondered "Perfect! Our way outta here has come strollin' up to us!"

"That's right. They can tell us where the exit is." Mira stated

"Lucy and Yukino, you don't have your keys, right? Please back away." Wendy told the two girls as they retreated while helping Arcadios.

" Happy and Carla, you two go with them, if any of those guys gets past us, you'll need to get them out of here" Eiran told the Exceed

"Aye!" Happy said as they retreated to stand beside Lucy and Yukino, Lily transforming into his battle mode, and stood beside Mira and Eiran.

"To show no fear before the Garou knights betrays your ignorance, criminal." The one standing at the center with the two scythes said "Return to the earth of the kingdom of Fiore."

"Leave them to us, first." The one who had used the confetti said as she walked forward beside her the one who had used the plants.

"Just two of you?! Then I'll take you both on myself!" Natsu yelled

The one holding the bottle in his mouth and had used the acid before, complained that he wanted to go first, as did the one holding the flag.

"Let's go, Cosmos." The one holding the confetti called

"With our beautiful dance, right, Kamika?" Cosmos told her

Kamika blew at the red paper confetti in her hand as the red paper multiplied as fire head straight for Natsu, who tries to set the paper on fire but fails.

"Red paper is the god of flames." Kamika told them

Natsu tried to eat the fire but ends up being hit. Wendy ran forward to support him and using her sky dragon's roar scatters the paper.

"Let's jump in there!" Lily said but Mira stopped him

"Wait. Better leave it to Natsu and Wendy, and see what the other side does first." Mira told him

"Besides we better keep an eye if the other three enemies decide to join the fray." Eiran added

Natsu and Wendy head straight combining their attacks, but Cosmos and Kamika dodge, when Natsu comes behind Cosmos to attack her, the latter blocked using a giant flower.

Natsu retreats beside Wendy and the two combine their breath attacks.

"Both of them are gone. Vaporized?" Lily asked

"No…the attack wasn't strong enough to vaporize them" Eiran stated

"They're…hiding?" Mira noted as the dust cleared to show the two hiding inside a flower covered in red paper.

Natsu and Wendy are taken by surprise when long vines head for them but they still dodge, Kamika then uses yellow paper that shines a bright light, causing them to close their eyes.

"I can't see!" Mira said

"She can use paper like that, too?!" Lily wondered

"That might be troublesome if she has variety" Eiran said

As the light faded out, Cosmos captured Wendy using her vines trapping her in the air, before Kamika hit Natsu using white paper. "White paper is the god of blizzards!" She said, freezing Natsu, who then melted the ice, but was captured by Cosmos's vines, lifting him beside Wendy.

Cosmos made two plants one under each of the two dragon slayers, the plants opened up and green tongues wrapped around Natsu and Wendy and started pulling them down.

"That's no good!" Lily said

"Natsu, I'll get you free!" Mira said

"Let's go!" Eiran said as they started to head for Natsu and Wendy but stopped when Natsu yelled at them

"Get back! This is just startin' to get interesting!" Natsu yelled

"Say what?! This is no time for that!" Lily yelled at Natsu

"Just let me do it myself! Interfere and I'll punch ya!" Natsu yelled back

Wendy fired a roar burning the vines holding Wendy, before Wendy used her wing attack to cut the ones holding Natsu.

"Gajeel and Natsu's combo was really something too…" Lily stated

"…but it looks like these two go well together." Mira finished

"Well they don't fight like Natsu and Gajeel do for one" Eiran pointed out

Natsu and Wendy started attacking taking the upper hand with their combo. Before eventually two of the other three joined the fray.

"Those two are coming in! Then so are we!" Mira stated as she, Eiran and Lily ran forward.

"Leave it to me!" Lily yelled

"Just watch for the fifth one as well" Eiran said but then the one with the flag raised it causing them to fly back, and Natsu and Wendy to hover in air.

Lily was attacked with the one with the bottle in his mouth and thrown back.

"Hey! I thought it was supposed to be two against two!" Lucy yelled

"I don't remember making that promise." Kamika said

"Our purpose is the execution of criminals." Cosmos said

"We were just playing with you a little!" The one holding the flag said.

Lily, Mira and Eiran faced the one that used the acid magic

"That was a damn powerful force!" Lily said

"We can't let ourselves get close to him." Mira said

As the guy they faced laughed "Come on! I'll melt you into nothingness!"

"Mira! Lily! Get back!" Eiran said standing in front of them as dark blue crystal started covering him as armor. "I will handle this guy!"

At the same time Cosmos attack Natsu forcing him to the ground, while Kamika casted an illusion on Wendy, who blew it away to find herself standing on a carnivores plant that closed on her to consume her.

"Wendy!" Natsu screamed

"Mira, Lily, go!" Eiran told them

"No, I will go; Lily and you handle this guy!" Mira said as she transformed into her Sitri form to help Wendy and Natsu

As Eiran and Lily started fighting the guy with the acid, but when Vines appeared behind Lucy, Yukino and Arcadios, Lily turned around to help them while Eiran held off the guy with the acid.

As the guy started drinking from his bottle, before throwing an attack right at Eiran, surprising the other guy when he came through the acid unharmed, and hit the guy square in the chest as the latter skid back.

"I'm gonna melt you down!" The guy with the acid told Eiran

"Bring it!" Eiran replied but before he could do anything, he along with the rest of his friends were surrounded by purple paper that paralyzed them.

Cosmos grew a large plant that started to suck them in. "Getting away? Oh, well, you don't have what it takes to beat me anyway." The guy with the acid yelled

Eiran grits his teeth but turned to face their current problem, as they were getting closer to the plant, Wendy manage to cure their body from paralysis, and they all combined their attack at the flower causing a huge explosion, that causes the ground beneath them to collapse and they all fall to the cavern below.

Natsu gets out from under the rubble "We fell another long way."

"You can say that again…" Eiran groaned as he gets up, his armor gone and he was somewhat unharmed thanks to it.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked him as he nodded before Natsu turned to the empty corridor "Hey! Is everybody okay?!" but only hears the echo of his own voice

"Natsu, can you smell them?" Eiran asked as the dragon slayer sniffed the air

"Ah, but they're not close" Natsu answered

Before they can do anything they turned around as one of the Garou knights, the one with the two scythes landed behind them.

"It seems that shockwave scattered everyone." The guy said "But my knights are highly capable. None of your people will live to go home."

"If Lucy and I get separated here, what's the point anymore?" Natsu wondered as Eiran gritted his teeth, "Sorry, but I need to put off our fight. Although I guess you won't go for that, huh? I'll ask your name at least."

"I don't give my name to criminals." The guy replied

"Natsu, go find Lucy and Yukino" Eiran told the dragon slayers as he faced the Garou knight

"No, this guy is mine!" Natsu yelled

"Natsu! Lucy and Yukino can't use magic if they end up on their own and facing an enemy they'll be done for" Eiran told him "And you're the only one here that can sniff them out"

Natsu clenched his fist "Alright! But you better get our way out from this guy!"

"You bet!" Eiran grinned as he faced the Garou knight while Natsu ran following Lucy's smell.

"I will hunt him down once I am done with you" The Garou knight told Eiran who called his armor again, the armor was like that of a knight covering his entire but his face. "Life is fleeting. Sing of your crimes."

"I know them quite well but they're none of your business" Eiran told him blankly

"Are you prepared then, Criminal? It's time for your execution." The knight told him as Eiran took a fighting stance.

"Come!" Eiran replied at that moment the knight drew his scythes and at incredible speed swung them at Eiran aiming for his neck, but Eiran flipped back to dodge.

"Why do you dodge me?" the knight asked him perplexed

"What did you think that I would just let you kill me?!" Eiran exclaimed

"I'm only after the heads of criminals." The knight replied

"I'm afraid I won't let you take my head, some people expect me to come back and I can't disappoint" Eiran replied

Eiran ran forward with a punch before crouching as one of the scythes swung over his head, he swung his leg at the knight, but the latter jumped before he swung his left scythe down on Eiran who jumped to the right to dodge.

"You're as light on your feet as the weight of your sins is heavy." The knight told Eiran

"You really think there is a human out there who hasn't 'sinned'?!" Eiran told him standing up "People live with their sins and wrongdoings every day, and there might be those who keep on doing evil, but some actually just try to make up for it" Eiran narrowed his eyes "And you have no right to kill them"

"The only way to reprimand your sins is in death." The knight told him as he put his scythes side by side so that the palms on them were facing Eiran "Your sins leave a mark never to disappear etched in your body as memories." a circular, concentrated Magic Power appeared in the scythes' palms, as palm marks appeared all over Eiran.

"What the…?!" Eiran asked as he saw the marks over his crystal armor

"Do you have chest pain? It's proof of your crimes. The guilty plea you can't cast off." The knight told them as the marks faded.

"You really don't listen do you" Eiran's face was completely blank "I've lived with the guilt every day of my life, it's the reason why I never use my magic to its full ability, why there was a time I tried to isolate myself, but I have friends who would be very disappointed if I just gave up here." Eiran breathed reigning in his magic making sure he won't lose control "Now let's get this over with."

The knight put the scythes together at the palm before they merged together forming one large double edged scythe "Executioner technique! Guillotine Justice!"

The scythe went flying at Eiran who dodged but the scythe followed as Eiran dodged again. "Your crimes will always haunt you, you can't get rid of them." The knight told Eiran who kept dodging "They'll chase the marks on you wherever you go until the execution is carried out. Reflect upon your sins and despair!"

"I don't know about that! Crystal Dome!" A dome appeared around Eiran, the blades hit them, what surprised Eiran was that they managed to actually scratch the domes and cause a fracture.

The knight caught his blades though as Eiran let down his barrier, while completely focused and ready to dodge on a moment notice, it would take someone or something strong to even fracture his crystal after all.

"What will power…You recognize your sins, yet you don't accept punishment." The knight told him

"You really still harping on that…I told you I don't plan on dying today or anytime soon, I have to get back to my friends" Eiran replied

"Your friends have already been executed. Go to the other side without a fuss. They're waiting for you." The knight replied

Eiran sighed annoyed by this guy already "Apparently you haven't heard of Fairy Tail wizards before…we don't go down when we know our friends are waitin' for us"

"A lowly wizards guild would dare defy the kingdom?" the knight asked him

"We'd defy the entire continent, if they threatened our friends" Eiran answered before positioning his hand towards the knight. "Crystal Lance!" The beams of Crystal headed straight for the knight, but the knight simply cut through them with his weapon.

"I knew it, your weapon has some kind of magic canceller" Eiran noted

"Indeed. My right sickle cuts off the head of sinners. My left sickle negates the magic of sinners." The knight replied "No matter how strong your magic is, I'll cut through it."

"No matter how strong you say?" Eiran repeated "Well, good thing I'm good at fighting without magic"

Eiran ran forward "Wha-" The knight's eyes widened as Eiran appeared in front of him, and punched him in the stomach, he then grabbed the man's left wrist twisting it so he was forced to let go of the sickle, before kneeing him in the stomach and flipping him over before kicking him in the stomach hard enough for the knight to be send away and land on his knees a distance away.

"Y-You…" The knight started

"I told ya" Eiran interrupted "I don't fight at full power, but I need to get to my friends and make sure they get out of here" His eyes narrowed at the weapon less man "So about time I wrap this up" Eiran clenched his fist

"Are you a monster?!" The knight asked

"Ah" Eiran answered as he walked forward

"You do this to me…Do you people intend to become enemies of the state?!" The knight asked him

"You shouldn't be asking that…because the moment you took Lucy you became enemies of Fairy Tail!" Eiran told him as He ran forward punching the knight and sending him flying through the wall.

When he goes through the opening as all of the Garou knights end up hitting each other "Huh?" Mira wondered seeing everyone

"Huh? Everyone!" Wendy noted

"What timing!" Lucy exclaimed

"Everyone!" Natsu yelled as he came running "Huh?! Not Fair, you guys finished with the fight already"

"Natsu!" Happy said happily

"But talk about coincidence" Eiran said his armor gone

"Is everyone okay?" Wendy asked

"Well, more or less. Anyway, we'd better find our way out of here fast…" Lucy replied, beside her was Loke carrying Arcadios and beside him was Yukino.

"Total defeat?!" The knight on the ground muttered since he was the only one unconscious in the Garou knights

"Natsu, you can have the honor of finding our way out" Eiran told the Dragon Slayer, who grinned evilly and stood over the knight

"All righty, if you don't tell us where the exit is, it's execution time for you." Natsu threatened as they watched him.

After they got the directions out of the Garou knights, and filled each other on their fight, they followed the way he told them going deeper into the Hell Palace.

"We keep going, but it all looks the same. It throws off your sense of direction, too." Lucy said as they kept walking

"In fact, is this really the right way?" Natsu wondered

"I doubt that guy lied after how you questioned him" Eiran said

"I can feel a slight breeze. I think we're good." Wendy assured them

"Come to think of it, how did you get here, Loke?" Mira asked the spirit who carried Arcadios

"I jumped." He replied

"It's important to also think of what happens after." Wendy told him

"Actions before thoughts." Loke replied

"You make a good point once in a while!" Natsu agreed

"Once in a while?" Loke questioned

"You two are cut of the same cloth" Eiran told them

"You act just like us, you know!" Loke told him

"Will sir Arcadios be okay?" Yukino wondered

"Well, he'll survive, but…" Loke told her

"It's unusual for anyone to live through swimming in lava." Happy said

"Now that you mention it, did Horologium do something?" Carla asked Lucy

"No. He'd already jumped into the lava by then." Lucy replied

"He's the paragon of a military man, I'm impressed." Lily said

"It's probably thanks to the jade amulet he's wearing." Loke added "It's a powerful charm that's doing its duty."

"Speaking of jade, that reminds me of the Jade Dragon, Zirconis." Wendy said

"Oh, that guy" Matsu said

"That dragon sure talked a lot." Lucy commented

"I recall the name of the princess is Hisui, which means jade." Yukino added

"He said we should decide for ourselves whether Eclipse is the right way to go, right?" Carla wondered

"Although the princess is the one who dropped us in here." Natsu stated

"Anyway, I want to escape from here and put everyone who's fighting in the Grand Magic Games at ease." Loke said as Lucy nodded

"They probably worried since it's taking us so long" Eiran added

They kept walking for a while longer till they reached stairs that kept taking them downwards.

"I smell something!" Natsu noted

"It seems we're close to the exit." Wendy added "Then the leader of the executioners was telling us the truth, huh?"

"Come to think of it, I know all of their names but the leader's" Lucy noted

"True. Okay, I'll decide on it." Mira decided "Kama!"

"Meaning 'Sickle'!" Lucy noted

"Well, it's…descriptive" Eiran said

When Lily called their attention to something ahead.

"A door!" Natsu noted

"It might be the exit!" Happy cheered

"We can finally get out of here!" Lucy cheered

When they noticed how large it is, Natsu running ahead to destroy it, but the door started to open and Natsu to stop himself tripped and ended up rolling all till the foot of the person who opened the door from the other side.

A woman wearing a cloak, they all stared at her warily, as she looked down on Natsu on the ground. "Who the hell are you?!" Natsu asked her quietly before sniffing her "Hey, wait a second! This scent…"

"Natsu…" The woman said as she started crying "I'm sorry!"

"You're…" Natsu started

"Help me!" She requested

"That voice…" Yukino noted

"What is this?" Mira wondered

"It can't be…" Wendy said

"You're…" Loke started

"How on earthland?" Eiran was just as shocked as Lucy walked forward and the woman removed her hood.

"Hold on there!" Lucy told her before freezing on seeing the woman's face, just as they all froze on seeing her face.

"Lucy!" Natsu said shocked as he stared at the woman, who was apparently another Lucy.

"Another Lucy?!" Mira wondered

"W-What does this mean?" Wendy asked

"You're not…Gemini, right?" Yukino wondered

"Or from Edolas or something like that?" Happy asked

"You already know about Eclipse, the time-travel portal, right?" The other Lucy asked them

"Eclipse? Don't tell me…" Lily started

"You used Eclipse…" Carla said

"You're from the future?!" Eiran questioned as the other Lucy nodded, which made Lucy and Natsu freak out even more.

"This is…so sudden, I don't understand…" Lucy stated

"This country is about to…" Future Lucy started before she fainted and fell. With the situation at hand, Natsu picked up future Lucy as they decided to take her with them and figure things out once they're safe away.


	37. GMG: The end of Day five!

**Here's the new chapter :D Okay Author note for the last chapter since I was exhausted to write XD I hope Laxus wasn't too ooc in the last chapter and I'd love to hear what you think Eiran was talking about when it came to his 'crimes' ;)**

 **L.A. Artemis** **: I am glad you find it exciting! :D Hope this chapter lives up to the expectation :D**

* * *

"The final day of the Grand Magic Games! Fairy Tail is in first place with 50 points!" Chapati announced

"And all five members are still in the game." Yajima added

"Sabertooth is in hot pursuit with 49 points! With Lamia Scale right after with 48 points!" Chapati added

"And Mermaid Heel is bringing up the rear with 43 points." Yajima added

"Fairy Tail still doesn't have any fallen members! Talk about strong!" Chapati commented

Freed was looking smug "Of course. Say what you will, but it's because my Laxus is there." He said

"Not yours, but the thunder tribe's, right?" Evergreen corrected him

"Whatever! Just finish 'em off, Laxus!" Bickslow said

"At this rate, we've got a lock on victory. That's my Laxus!" Freed stated as he and the rest of the thunder tribe started cheering Laxus.

"Say…" Raine started quietly

"You guys do realize Laxus hasn't done anything yet, right?" Venus told them bluntly "Anyhow, First what's gonna happen now?"

"If my calculations are correct…" Mavis started smiling as they watched the Lacrima vision

Lia walked through one of the streets till she reached a small bridge over a canal in town. She was focused on her surroundings with her sensing so when a water torrent headed to where she had stood she easily teleported to the other side of the bridge dodging it.

"Kinda brings back memories, right, Lia?" Anise asked as she walked down the street towards the opposite side of the bridge from Lia.

"Ah, we never finished our fight back then though" Lia stated

"Time to bring it to a conclusion, right?" Anise said smirking as faced off with Lia

"And a fight starts between Fairy Tail's Lia and Lamia Scale's Anise!" Chapati announced as the crowd broke into cheers, glad to see a fight again after a long pause.

Venus was contemplative "Lia vs Anise? That's going to be a tough one." She noted

"Is that woman, Anise, that strong?" Evergreen asked her

Venus nodded "She's one of Lamia's S rank wizards for a reason, also, she and Lia fought seven years ago, they never finished the fight, but…" She focused on the Lacrima "Lia was the more exhausted one after, and Anise had seven years to grow, so, I don't know"

"Lia will win this one or at least immobilize her" Mavis said giggling "Meanwhile, Erza will fight Minerva."

"She looks triumphant!" Evergreen commented

At that time Erza had made her way to the area where the First told her to be, but instead of running into Minerva, she had to block Mermaid's Kagura.

Back at the bridge, Lia and Anise hadn't moved and were staring off, without the need Lia's sensing, she and Anise heard the commentary that Erza had run into Kagura instead of Minerva, and this surprised her, more so when she heard Minerva had joined the fight too.

"Oh! My! Goodness! It's become a three-way battle!" Chapati announced "A showdown between the foremost wizard women of this tournament! Who will survive?!"

"And what are we? Chopped liver?!" Anise exclaimed irked before turning to Lia again

Lia shrugged while biting the inside of her cheek, praying for Erza's safety. Anise frowned before she was irked even more "You're focusing on their fight instead of ours too, aren't ya?" Anise didn't give Lia time to answer, before the latter teleported at the last second to avoid a water beam from Anise.

"Guess your temper hadn't gone down in the seven years, right?" Lia joked as she countered with a magic burst, but Anise dodged, they both whipped their heads to the side when they sensed the magic pressure building somewhere in town, Lia sensed who it was from, Anise though realized it based on Chapati's commentary.

Lia was hit directly at that moment by another water beam from Anise "You should pay attention…" Anise told Lia with narrowed eyes as the latter stood up "Because starting this moment I am not holding back, you were strong enough to tie with Jura…" Anise spread her left arm to the side as a blue magic circle appeared at the end "…you better show me that strength, Water Jet!"

Lia teleported away as the water stream which was smaller than a rope in diameter sliced through the building behind where Lia had stood, a clean cut that had the top of the building crashing down.

Lia teleported again as Anise moved the thing just like she was moving a whip and the stream had headed for Lia slicing through another building.

"Ok, Lia, Focus!" Lia muttered to herself before she took into the air flying instead of teleporting to avoid the stream again.

Just as she was about to focus on their fight though their attention was stolen by the giant explosion happening at the center of town, right where Erza, Kagura and Minerva were.

Even Anise had stopped to focus solely on the explosion this time, Lia though was frozen for a few moments fearing for Erza till she sensed the woman safe and was later confirmed in the commentary.

She let out a sigh of relief, "Erza is doing her best, time for me to do mine" Lia muttered to herself before she breathed and pushed all other thoughts out of her head, she limited her sensing range to the surrounding area, at the moment Anise had turned to look at Lia, the woman was gone.

Anise didn't have time to react as the wind lashed all around her, slashing at her and leaving her coat tattered "So you're playing serious…" Anise smirked "About time!" Despite the wind still hitting her, Anise moved her two hands "Water Oracle!"

The torrents of water released from around her, before they all headed for one spot hitting it and Lia was thrown back and back to herself.

She teleported out of the way at the last moment, when a water jet from Anise hit the ground, where she had been lying. Before she dodged just as a water torrent was about to hit her from behind, except when she dodged a water beam spewed from the side of the one she dodged and forced her to teleport into the air.

"Running won't be so easy!" Anise told her as the water torrents surrounded Lia, who clapped her hands "Destroy!" she casted just as the water torrents his her invisible shield and pushed against it, not relenting, which eventually forced Lia to teleport away.

Lia hid in an alley, this was turning too much of a reminiscent of her previous fight with Anise, she was being forced on the defensive no even given a moment to attack.

"You know, I thought by now, you'd use that Elementization spell of yours in water form" Anise called from where she stood smirking "But you can't use water form can you?"

In the stands where Fairy Tail was watching both Erza's fight and Lia's, "She can't?" Freed wondered

Venus shook her head "Lia managed fire, wind and lightning and she was working on iron but never got it" Venus told them, since she had been the one with Lia while she trained

"Fire, Wind, Lightning and Iron?!" Evergreen repeated "those elements are…"

"She was thinking it would make a good spell to support the Dragon slayers in the guild when they're low on power" Venus said

"Still is it me or is Lia doing worse than in the fight against Jura?" Raine wondered worried as they turned to watch the screen again.

"Lia can fight against solid magic better, or at least that was how it always been" Bickslow said as his dolls repeated 'always been'.

"And this time she can't just keep on dodging till a timer runs out" Freed added

Lia was forced out of her hiding spot as she flew out of the way of the water torrents that converged together into a large beam and trailed behind her as she flew away. "Elementization: Lightning!" Lia stood in her lightning form, her hair loose cackled behind her, as her lightning was light purple in color, and her face features white spaces.

She sent a bolt right at the water beam as Anise stopped the spell and dodged at the neck of time before she was hit by the bolt that traveled through her water.

Lia appeared in front of Anise, with a kick that the water mage didn't manage to dodge and threw her away, with a shock passing through her body.

"D-Didn't forget about that spell" Anise told her standing up, Lia was surprised when she found herself in a water sphere and for whatever reason couldn't move "Black as night, death of the brave, to Davy Jones' Locker I send you…" Anise casted as Lia undid her Elementization spell, she instantly though regretted it as she felt the pressure in the water was increasing exponentially "Maro Abismo!" The water sphere was a black and no light was heading inside, and no one could see Lia inside.

Anise stopped her spell, she wanted Lia unconscious not dead, but when the water sphere dispersed Lia wasn't inside "What?!"

"I almost couldn't teleport out of there" Lia told her as she stood leaning with her back against one wall, drenched, and breathing hard, "That was some water pressure, but you were a second late in your casting"

"I know you Fairy Tail members like to defy the odds, but that spell is like putting you at deep sea level, how the hell do you use magic when you probably couldn't even breath or move?!" Anise asked Lia who took a deep breath

"Ever faced a Siren?" Lia counter asked as she turned back to Lightning "They're not very friendly"

"Figures, but I am not done yet!" Anise answered "Water Tsunami!" The large body of water headed straight for Lia, but the latter used her lightning body to accelerate through the water, only to be punched right in the face and be thrown back.

"You didn't think you're the only one that can change her body into her element, did ya?" Anise asked hovering over the ground with her entire body made out of water.

Lia got up still in her lightning form, "This should be fun!" she grinned as the lightning cackled.

At that time Minerva had left Erza to fight Kagura after she showed them she was holding Millianna hostage so that they would fight each other.

At the same time, Gajeel had just been found by Rogue, and Laxus and Orga faced off as well.

Elsewhere at the town edge, "We made a grave error; while at the same time got locked into an in escapable destiny." Jellal told Meldy and Ultear

"If everything that the future said is true…" Meldy started worried

"…this country will be destroyed tomorrow." Ultear finished

Unknown to the three someone was listening in on them, that person wore a giant cloak that hid their features completely, before teleporting away and appearing outside a bar next town over, entering the person weaved their way to one of the people watching the games.

"Xenos~" the person called with a giggle, their voice giving the fact that she was female "I just heard something interesting"

"Get on with it, Envy." He told her

"Well~ we might need to move our plans a little early, and we won't even have to worry about Fairy Tail or any other mage coming after us" She whispered while giggling, not that anybody turned to her they were all busy watching the games "They'll be too busy"

He raised an eyebrow before smirking "Sound interesting alright" He said

Back in Crocus, Anise didn't even bother to block as Lia's fist passed through her water body, recovering right after, she countered with her own punch increasing the water's surface tension so the hit made contact, as Lia was thrown backwards, she rolled on the floor her lightning form disappearing.

Anise had proven that she was still superior to Lia in physical strength and hand to hand combat, she wasn't affected by the lightning in her water form, or more like lightning passed through her water body with no effect.

She wasn't even bothering to dodge or block Lia's hits, which was frustrating Lia.

Lia knew her fire strength wouldn't be strong enough to counter her water, "Elementization: Wind!"

Anise wasn't affected when her water body was being cut through by the wind "Water Oracle!" Anise casted and the torrents of water like the first time found Lia in her wind form hitting her and sending her to ground again, Anise appeared above her with a punch to Lia's stomach that was hard enough to create a crater under the said girl.

She didn't stop there, not giving Lia a chance to recover, she gathered her magic "Water Tsunami!" The wave washed Lia a little distance away.

Anise stopped and just watched Lia who didn't move for a few seconds before she started pushing herself on her knees, while coughing.

"I won't lose" Lia told her determined as she teleported appearing behind Anise "Explosion!"

Anise was surprised enough for her water body to scatter before it gathered again, but her water oracle immediately went for Lia again.

Lia teleported out of the way and appeared a distance from Anise "Body Enchant: Defendo! Celero! Robur! Reflex!" she casted on herself as the water torrents headed for her with Anise now recovered from explosion in tow "Magic Burst: Heaven's Light!"

The magic circle appeared in front of her with the magic gathering at five tips forming a star before each point headed for Anise and her torrents.

Anise dodged the beam, to be surprised when Lia switched the beam to multiple beams and each tried to hit her, Anise though dodged each of them, but not easily.

"A bit like your water Oracle spell! But they don't follow the water in a person's body, they track magic!" Lia told her

"Took you a while to figure out how my spell worked though" Anise replied

They both froze though before they dodged as a large magic energy destroyed a large section from where they were, or destroyed what they hadn't already destroyed; Lia noted that that magic energy had come from where Erza was fighting.

"Guess those people don't realize others are fighting here" Anise said as she faced Lia again, although she was back to her human form, if anything she was staring to get tired, getting hit in her water form might have prevented injury, but each hit took a chunk out of her magic reserves, and then there was the magic needed to maintain the body itself to worry about.

Lia on the other hand was both exhausted and injured, between using her Elementization spell for so long, getting hit by Anise's deep sea spell, that had her entire body and lungs especially hurting, then getting beat up by Anise, she had no idea whether she would give In to magic exhaustion or physical exhaustion first.

"I knew this top wouldn't make it past the day" Lia muttered, her top was now missing the lace sleeve, the corset was cut in multiple places, her pants too were missing a leg. Anise on the other hand, only had her coat missing and was down to her strapless dress and black leggings with the boots, and looking completely unharmed, the only sign she was even fighting was how hard she was breathing.

The two women faced off, getting ready to go for round three or was it four now. Back in the arena Sabertooth points had just increased to 55 after Minerva had stolen the points for defeating Kagura from Erza, leaving Kagura in a critical state, before she revealed she had tortured Millianna till the girl was unconscious, giving Saber another point.

"With this, all Mermaid Heel participants are out!" Chapati announced "So it's now down to Erza and Minerva!"

"But Erza has already been put through the wringer-kabo!" Mato said

"Minerva, on the other hand doesn't have a scratch on her." Yajima added

"Does the fairy with the flapping wings have any chance at victory?!" Chapati wondered

The Fairy Tail members watched the lacrimas that showed the fights and not just Erza's. Gajeel was fighting Rogue, easily beating him, before he started walking away only to stop when Rogue told him he wasn't as strong as Natsu.

"And that's how you send yourself to an early grave" Cana noted as Levy nodded

"Laxus and Orga are just showing off by destroying the town" Venus noted

"I think Master is probably glad we don't have to pay for repairs this time" Lisanna replied

Raine nodded in agreement "Lia and Anise's fight isn't helping with the town's state either" She said, the said area's buildings were cut in half, the streets drenched and scorched from all the lightning and water, and even some walls had holes from when Anise had punched Lia a few times through walls.

Anise moved forward first running towards Lia immediately switching back to her water form, but Lia countered by putting her hands in front of her aimed at Anise "Magic burst: Heaven's Light!" The magic beam headed straight for Anise who dodged "Water Snake!" Anise countered as the water beams headed straight for Lia, the latter though jumped into the air, as the water hit where she had stood before.

"Magic Burst: Arrows!" Lia casted as the magic beam headed for Anise before separating into multiple beams as Anise tried to dodge each one, but was hit by the last one, what caught Lia's attention was that Anise was actually affected even for a second by the hit.

She recovered immediately though, throwing her hand forward "Water Jet!" The whip like water stream headed for Lia, but the latter teleported away appearing in the air above Anise "Magic Burst" She used her regular magic burst that Anise dodged, Lia smirked though as she started moving her arms and the beam moved like a whip with it, it was leaving a mark on the ground and Anise wasn't going to wait and see what would happen if it hit her, as she dodged.

"Ice Make: Eagle!" The attack headed straight for Lia, but before she could dodge another voice casted "Ice Make: Shield!" The Ice shield was high enough to shield her from the attack as she landed on the ground.

Gray walked towards Lia from behind her, as Lyon walked towards Anise who was in her human form again.

Lyon smirked as he noticed Gray "What's wrong, Gray? You're all beat up."

"I had some minor business to take care of." Gray replied

On the other hand, Anise and Lia were frowning at the sight of the two guys, "Lia! Let's take them out together." Gray told Lia who didn't even turn to him.

Back at the crowd in the arena, "Love Rival!" Juvia muttered darkly glaring at the lacrima vision

"Calm down, Juvia" Raine tried to calm the jealous woman

"He didn't mean it like that" Lisanna tried to help

In the town, Lia put a hand on Gray's shoulder "You know…" She turned to him with a glare that had him sweating "I really wanted to fight Rufus, but I let you have that fight, so…" Her death aura intensified "If you even think about joining this fight, I will give you a one way trip to Magnolia from here!"

"Lyon, you heard her, didn't ya?" Anise turned to Lyon with her own glare "Because I can give you a one way trip to Margret town…"

"Uhhh…" Gray stuttered as they backed away

"Why don't you guys fight elsewhere?!" Lia suggested in a tone that was more commanding then suggesting as Anise hummed in agreement, in less than a minute the two boys were gone.

"Since when can Lia glare someone into running away?" Raine wondered as they watched

"She always could" Evergreen answered with a sweat drop

While Freed nodded sweating too "She just isn't the type to get irritated or angry easily"

"But if she is, you better get away, Natsu and Gray learned that the hard way, when they almost started a fight in her library" Bickslow recalled just as nervous

"Figures" Venus replied chuckling nervously "Anise were always short tempered though"

At the same time inside the palace, where the infiltration team had eventually wandered into what looked like the dining hall.

Natsu shuddered "What's wrong, Natsu?" Happy asked him

"Kinda of feels like Erza or someone was glaring at me" Natsu replied "still this is Un-friggin'-believable."

"Who figured we'd get lost after all that?" Loke wondered

"This is a real pickle." Mira said

"I just don't have enough knowledge of the castle's structure…" Yukino said

"It's not your fault, we should've prepared better" Eiran said

"We got a lot to tell everyone, so we'd better get out of here soon." Lily said

Happy agreed "Aye. Like about Eclipse and Future Lucy…"

"This is a pain in the ass, so let's just plow through some soldiers." Natsu suggested

"Forget it! We've got injured people here." Carla told him

"Maybe we could handle them with our numbers." Happy said

Eiran sweat dropped "I am pretty sure they got the number's advantage on this one"

"No, that's not all." Mira told them "We're also fighting in the Grand Magic Games, right? It's a kingdom-sponsored tournament. I don't think we can afford to make a bad impression on the imperial armed forces."

"Well, we did beat up the executioners, so it may be too late." Wendy stated

"Maybe we should have gone a little easier on them." Happy wondered "If you think about it, it's not like they're especially bad people."

"Well, we couldn't afford the luxury of saying that at the time." Carla told him

Lily crossed his arms "We didn't put anyone out of commission permanently." He said "They'll probably be waking up any time now."

Loke crouched beside Lucy who was staring worriedly at her unconscious future self. "Lucy, you needn't worry so much." He told her as she nodded "Because even if there are two of you, I've got enough love for you both!"

"You know this isn't the right time or place?" Carla asked him

"Guess going back to the Celestial spirit world didn't change much about him" Eiran sweat dropped.

At that moment, future Lucy stirred "Are you okay, future Lucy?" Happy asked her as she sat up

"Where am I?" She asked

"We don't know." Lily told her

"It looks like the palace dining hall." Mira told her

She frowned "So we're still in the palace…" she said before holding her head "According to my memory…after escaping from Hell Palace, we're all captured by imperial soldiers. I came rushing back here so I could warn us beforehand…but all I can say is, we were unlucky. And until that time came, we were in a prison."

"'That time'?" Happy repeated but Future Lucy didn't reply

"You're talking about the reality you experienced, future Lucy?" Lily asked her

"What are you talkin' about? Those guys could never capture us!" Natsu boasted

"True. I don't feel like they could take us." Mira agreed

"We got close to Eclipse while we're on the run." Future Lucy told them "Because of that, we couldn't use our magic and all get thrown into the dungeon."

"Our future selves sure are careless, huh?" Natsu said

"Um, how did you come from the future, Lucy?" Wendy asked

"Good question. You haven't told us the important stuff yet." Loke said as future Lucy started shaking.

"Ah, why did you come from the future?" Eiran asked

"In order to change a terrible future…" future Lucy told them

"A terrible future?" Natsu repeated

"What happened in your future?" Yukino asked her

Future Lucy started shaking again "Despair awaits in the very near future. A swarm of more than 10,000 dragons will attack this country. The city is burned down. The palace is destroyed. Many lives are lost." This had them shocked and wide eyed.

"What…the hell…is that?!" Natsu asked shouting as he and Happy freaked out.

"Use your indoor voice!" Lily told them

"Over 10,000 dragons…" Mira repeated

"…we couldn't even fight one" Eiran stated with worry

"Why would that happen?" Yukino asked

"Oh my gosh!" Happy freaked out

"Maybe it has something to do with the dragon graveyard?" Wendy wondered

"I don't know." Carla replied

"It's unfathomable." Lily added as Happy continued to freak out.

"I wonder where they'll come from." Lucy wondered

"Is it even possible for them to be lying in wait without being discovered?" Loke wondered

Natsu was suddenly wearing a helmet and holding a bunch of spears "Anyway, we stop wastin' time here and prepare for war!"

"We're going to fight?!" Lucy asked him

"That'd be impossible!" Happy told him

"Everyone…you believe me?" Future Lucy asked them

Natsu turned to her "Is it a lie?!" he asked her

"No! But…I didn't think anyone would believe something like this." Future Lucy told them

"Why would we doubt your words, Lucy?" Natsu asked her

Future Lucy was stunned at his words and looked down smiling "You're my future self, but that's pathetic!" Lucy told her "Have more trust in your friends!"

"I'm scolding myself?!" Future Lucy wondered "But you're right…"

"Hey, what happened to us in the palace when the dragons came?" Carla asked future Lucy, who didn't reply and looked down frowning.

"Carla, I'll take a guess." Wendy told her "Maybe we…"

"…d-died?" Natsu finished

"No…" Mira said

"We…died?" Happy repeated as he barely held his tears

"I don't remember how many days passed." Future Lucy started telling them "When I came to, I remembered Eclipse. I didn't know how to activate it, but I opened the gate by instinct. I had faith in the possibility of going back in time. And then I really did go back to the past. July 4th, 791."

"That's…so recent." Loke noted

"With Eclipse, can you only go back to the recent past?" Mira wondered

"But the plan was to go back 400 years in the past and defeat Zeref…" Wendy said

"Maybe there is some type of way to control the timing?" Eiran wondered

"I don't know." Future Lucy replied "Part of it was broken, so maybe that's why. There are Lacrimas placed all throughout the city to film the Grand Magic Game. I want you to go underground to meet up with Jellal and his comrades."

"Jellal?" Natsu asked her

"I told him everything." She explained "I'm sure he's developing a strategy right now."

"Developing a strategy?" Lucy repeated

"I'm sorry. I didn't come from the future with an answer. I don't know how to keep all of this from happening." Future Lucy told them "I'm really sorry. It's like, why did I come here? Until today, I didn't know what to do, so I just wandered around the city."

"Nah. We'll do somethin'." Natsu told her as he leaned down and put his forehead against hers while patting her "Thank you. You're doin' this for our future." At this future Lucy started crying, while they all watched with smiles and determination at Natsu's words. "I swear we'll change the future."

After getting their bearing together, future Lucy started leading them through the halls "This way!" Future Lucy instructed

"I'm surprised you know the way!" Natsu told her

"I wanted to at least avoid a future where everyone is captured by the imperial army." She replied

"Makes sense." Lily agreed

"You must have studied the underground passages, huh?" Happy said

"I want to send up a flare soon." Mira said

"Especially since everyone must be worried about us." Wendy agreed

"They're bound to, since we took so long." Eiran agreed

Just as they walked into one of the main halls of the palace, and to find a platoon of guards heading straight for them from one direction.

"The imperial army? They were stationed here?!" future Lucy questioned shocked to see them

"How…?!" Lucy wondered just as Natsu, Loke and Eiran walked forward

"Don't worry!" Natsu told them "If I can use magic, we won't get caught."

"That's right." Loke agreed as he adjusted his tie

"We handle worse things with magic" Eiran added

Wendy called their attention "Arcadios isn't here!"

"Neither is Yukino!" Mira added

"What?!" Natsu questioned

"Why would they go off on their own?!" Lucy questioned

"I don't care about the knight, but I can't leave Yukino behind." Mira stated and took of running in the other direction "I'll go back!"

"Mira!" Lily called

"Don't! We'll get separated!" Lucy told her

"Go with her!" Loke told Eiran, who in turn looked at the guards "We'll handle them!"

"Leave it to us. We're gonna…" Natsu started as he and Loke got in a fighting stance

"…run through these guys!" They said together

Eiran nodded as he formed twin crystals, throwing one to Lucy "Keep this! I'll use it to find you guys after we find Yukino!" And he took off running after Mira, just as the group started fighting the soldiers.

The sun was starting to set, Gajeel had beaten Rogue till he was exhausted, before they talked and Rogue seemed about to give in, before something possessed him and he started fighting Gajeel.

At the same time, after Lyon and Gray had walked away and started fighting elsewhere, Anise and Lia faced as their remaining magic build up and they got ready waiting for the right moment to strike. Almost simultaneously, they moved together "Water Snake!" Anise casted as Lia countered "Magic Missile: Fire!" as the two spells hit each other and steam covered the area as a result.

"Water Oracle!" Anise casted as the water beams grabbed Lia, who had teleported to a different place than where she had stood, and threw her to the ground. Lia teleported away and gathered her magic as where Anise stood, the remaining steam dissipated to show a giant magic circle connecting four small magic circles "Infernal Torrent!"

Anise cursed as the flame tower surrounded her rising into the air like a beacon, it faded away fast though replaced by a water torrent that over take it, before it headed straight for Lia, she was hit at first before she teleported away, to the top of a pile of debris.

The water beam dropped to the ground as Anise stood her dress a bit scorched, showing she was actually hit by the spell before she countered.

At the same time Gajeel after having swallowed Rogue's shadow, and thus gained the upper hand in their fight, managed to defeat Rogue with a resounding Iron Shadow Dragon's Roar, that left the crowd and judges wide eyed and Fairy Tail cheering happily.

"So with this, Fairy Tail gains 1 point, for a total of 51 points!" Chapati announced

"Sabertooth still has 55 points, but Fairy Tail is slowly catching up-kabo!" Mato announced

"Wow! Now that was a magnificent battle worthy of Dragon Slayers!" Chapati commented

"It didn't turn out the way I thought, but it was incredible-kabo!" Mato said

"That's the true pleasure of the Grand Magic Games." Yajima said

At that moment, the fight between Erza and Minerva commenced, while elsewhere Gray and Lyon fought with neither sides letting up.

Before all attention turned to Laxus and Orga's fight which was just joined by Jura, who when challenged by Orga, managed to take down the god slayer with one hit, which raised Lamia Scales's points to 49.

Afterwards Laxus and Jura faced, before Laxus was knocked to the ground with one hit, he recovered and the fight between him and Jura commenced.

At that time, Lia teleported away when Anise had gotten close enough to switch to hand to hand combat.

She was getting tired, and Anise was unrelenting, and wasn't giving Lia the chance to gather magic for her stronger attacks, and she was even wary of standing in one spot too long after Lia had used her infernal torrent once.

She had an idea but it could very well blow in her face, quite literally, and give the win to Anise, but she was running out of magic and stamina.

Lia and Anise's fight stopped momentarily as the two gathered their breath, Anise though was on her feet a second before Lia "Water garden" Anise casted as two water walls rose beside Lia and multiple water beams came at her from the two sides, which made Lia teleport but didn't appear in sight of Anise.

Anise looked around her and was about to use her water Oracle, but was unable to when she was suddenly unable to move when the area's gravity changed, enough that a crater was forming under her.

Anise strained her neck as she turned her head to try and see where she had sensed large magic was being gathered; there Lia was kneeling on the ground between two piles of debris, eyes closed, with her right hand in front of her aimed straight at Anise, and her left hand on the ground holding the gravity spell.

"Is she…" Freed started as they watched the fight

"…she casting two spells at the same time?!" Bickslow finished as they all stared in surprise, the Fairy Tail team kept on surprising them, with Erza using her Second Origin, Laxus fighting on equal grounds with Jura, and now Lia dual casting two spells.

Venus was biting her lips, She was with Lia during training, another thing Lia had tried working on was duel casting, the problem was when she kept gathering magic for her spell, she couldn't stay focused enough to keep the two spells together and one of them always ended up blowing in Lia's face.

Lia was completely focused on the spell, she tuned out everything else, that if someone decided to attack her now, she wouldn't realize it till she's hit.

But this was risky for an entirely different reason, duel casting was dangerous, she had to balance two different spells, and of two different natures, it was like looking in two different directions at the same time, since she needed to keep them separate and not mixed together, which was why she usually would end up blowing herself when she lost focus for even a second.

She pushed all worry out of her head, she had to do this! She would do this!

Anise tried to push herself out of the gravity field, but she couldn't move not even in her water body, she had tried and ended up pancake on the ground in water form, and the way that Lia was charging that attack, even lying on the ground wouldn't help.

Fairy Tail in the stands watched as Erza changed into her Nakagami Armor "Advance like a wild win, youngsters!" Mavis started

"Magic Burst:…" Lia started the casting opening her eyes"…Heaven's light!" The large magic beam that was released destroyed everything in sight; it hit Anise straight on and every building behind the woman.

"Your fiery blood, sweat and tears are as beautiful as sunshine!" Mavis continued just as Lia's beam interrupted Gray's and Lyon's fight, Gray used the distraction as Lyon turned to look at where it came from "Ice Geyser!"

At the same time Laxus was gathering his magic for a dragon slayer's secret art. "Fear not, young ones. Move forward and that shall become your path." Mavis continued as she watched Laxus take down Jura with his roaring thunder, giving Fairy Tail five points that made them rise to first.

Lia's arms sagged stopping her attack as she sat on the ground breathing hard; she was waiting for the cloud of dust to clear, wondering if it was over.

When it cleared the entire path in front of Lia was destroyed in a hemi cone like path, and right where she had been stuck, was an unconscious Anise.

"It's over! The winner is Lia!" Chapati announced

"And with that Fairy Tail gains 1 point, for a total of 57 points!" Yajima announced.

"She won!" Venus cheered along with Lisanna as the two hugged each other.

The celebration extended even after when Gray took down Lyon with his attack then Erza took down Minerva, bringing Fairy Tail's total to 63 points.

"It's Erza! She beat Sabertooth's leader and earned five points!" Chapati announced as the crowd roared "Right now, Fairy Tail has 63 points! They're strong! Fairy Tail is too strong! Will they win this without one member going down?! The wizards from the other guilds are almost all out! In fact, the only one who's left is Sabertooth's Sting! Mr. Yajima, I think this is about over! "

"Fairy Tail has gotten extremely close to victory." Yajima said

"Incredible-kabo!" Mato added

Meanwhile, the Fairy Tail members especially the ones who were in the guild for the last seven years were stunned.

"Victory!" Romeo muttered

"Seriously?!" Sol muttered

"Us?!" Jet questioned

"We, who were bottom-ranked the whole time?!" Droy wondered with tears in his eyes

"Idiot! It's too soon to cry!" Macao told him with his own tears

The crowd too was stunned silent before they started rising into cheers for Fairy Tail, as the sun finally set and night came upon them.

Before everyone was stunned when they realized that if Sting took down all five members, Sabertooth would win.

At the same time in town Sting shot his magic into the sky forming the Sabertooth mark to signal his location.

Lia watched the signal appear in the sky as she stood up and Gray joined her since they were the closest to each other.

Like the rest of the Fairy Tail members they pushed themselves despite their injuries to where the signal came from.

The crowd and the Fairy Tail members watched stunned and silently as the five injured wizards reach the square where Sting was, as they stood side by side facing the dragon slayer.

"What a spectacular sight. All of you are wizards I looked up to seven years ago." Sting told them

"Can the chatter. This is the final battle." Gajeel told him

"We'll beat you one on one. Who do you want?" Gray asked him

"All at once is fine. With your injuries, one on one would be boring." Sting replied

"You should have learned by now not to underestimate Fairy Tail!" Lia told him

"I wouldn't dream of it. I'm treating you guys with respect." Sting replied "That's why I'm gonna crush you all together! I've been waiting for this. I'm gonna show Lector how strong I am!"

"Lector?" Gray questioned

"I don't know what you're talkin' about, but are you serious?" Laxus asked him

"I'm serious! I got stronger!" Sting declared "Losing Lector has awakened new strength! For Lector's sake…for my best friend's sake…I'm gonna beat all of you!"

"Fine. If you're that prepared…then we'll fight you, Sting!" Erza told him

"That's what I want to hear." Sting replied as they faced him with determination, he started gathering his magic "I'll show you my newly-awakened power!"

He looked at them and was shocked to see the determination as they faced him despite their injuries, he tried to move to attack but hesitated, instead of attacking he dropped to the ground on his knees and admitted defeat.

The Fairy Tail members at the arena stared at the score of 64, the score that had won them the games, before they broke into tears, and cheers.

"That's it! The winner of the Grand Magic Games…" Chapati announced as fireworks shot into the sky "…is Fairy Tail!"

The cheers were thunderous from the arena, reaching as far as where the Fairy Tail team was in town.

Erza approached the fallen Sting "Sting, why didn't you come after us?" She asked him

"I had a feeling I couldn't meet him." He told her "Before, I thought I'd be able to meet him if I won…but for some reason, I felt like I couldn't meet him. I don't understand it myself. You people are so radiant that I didn't think I could meet him the way I am now."

"Sure you can." Erza told him

"Erza!" Millianna called as she came running and in her hands was Lector who Sting immediately started running towards, Lector himself when he saw Sting jumped from Millianna's hands and started running towards Sting.

The two were crying as they hugged each other, as all the onlookers smiled at the scene.

* * *

 **The Games are officially over! Now to deal with the Dragons! and what will Epta members do? ;)**


	38. 7 Dragons!

"The winner of the Grand Magic Games is…Fairy Tail!" Chapati announced, the sky was filled with fireworks, the crowd's cheers was booming reaching all the way to where the teams were in town.

"Still, wow! We can hear it from here." Gray said

"You'd think it was an earthquake instead of cheering" Lia said grinning

"Jeez. Wish they'd shut up already. They're gonna make my wounds vibrate." Gajeel said

"Oh, don't be like that. Those are cheers of congratulation." Erza told him "Now we can give a good report to Master."

"Well, Gramps aside, this was good for our comrades who went through hard times these past seven years." Laxus said

"It's over." Gajeel said

"At least our part is" Lia said

"Erza, how's your leg?" Gray asked

"Nothing I can't handle." Erza answered as Lia rolled her eyes

"It always is with you" Lia told her as requipped a small first aid kit "Now sit down and let me have a look at it, till we get you to an actual healer."

"It really is nothing" Erza told her but Lia didn't budge till Erza sat on the ground and Lia started bandaging her leg after rubbing some ointment.

"Still, you know…" Laxus said "It just doesn't feel the same without constant screaming,"

"Can't argue with that." Gray agreed

"Although it's a pain in the ass with him around…" Gajeel said

"He would definitely be all over the place right now" Lia added as she requipped her first aid kit, seeing as Erza's leg was probably the only thing she can help with "All done, don't put too much pressure on it though"

"Thanks. By the way, did anyone see a flare?" Erza asked as she and Lia stood up

"Nope. Other than the one moment that saint monster had the upper hand, I had my eye out." Laxus told her

"I didn't see it either." Gray said as Lia shook her head too.

"The thing of it is, there ain't no way the Salamander would remember to signal us." Gajeel said

"Even if he forgot, Eiran and Mira wouldn't" Lia said frowning

"Hey…" Sting started calling their attention, Gajeel turned with a glare at Sting, who Lector hid behind upon seeing the Iron Dragon Slayer's reaction.

"Don't look at me with that annoying face!" Gajeel told him but stopped when Sting looked down

"I was just wondering why Natsu didn't participate." Sting said as they all frowned in worry.

"Did something happen to Natsu?" Lector asked them

Lia brushed her bangs behind her ear "I think I can squeeze a bit of magic to check" She said and for safe measures casted her magic regeneration enchantment, before she closed her eye and spread her sensing as far as she could.

"Mira and Eiran are somewhere in the palace gardens" Lia noted she sensed Yukino in the same area as them but not with them.

"Just the two of them?!" Erza questioned

"What about the others?!" Gray asked her

"I'm looking give me a second…" Lia replied as she tried to push her sensing further, she was lucky they were so close to the palace. "They're inside the palace, fighting." She frowned though "This is weird…"

"What is?" Gajeel asked her

"I sense two Lucys" Lia told them "But one has weird magic mixed with her's…dark magic"

"Are you sure?" Laxus questioned as Lia nodded

"But she's in the middle of the group, they're not fighting her, so she might not be an enemy" Lia told them before she opened her eyes and sighed "or I might be hallucinating, I'm tired after all."

"So they didn't manage to escape the palace, but Lucy is with them" Erza concluded

"Still, why would they get separated?" Gajeel wondered

"I sensed Yukino, the celestial mage that was captured with Lucy in the gardens, maybe they were looking for her, or they ran into some complications that forced them to separate" Lia suggested

"So at worst case, they'll get taken by the guards and we'll have ask for them to be released as a group instead of just Lucy" Laxus said

"Natsu probably couldn't stop himself from fighting the guards" Gray added as they sweat dropped

"Probably" Lia said chuckling before she frowned as she turned her head to look in the direction of the arena "What the…"

"What's wrong?" Erza asked her

Lia closed her eyes to focus her sense, just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. "Another familiar person whose magic is mixed with the same dark magic" She told them "And this time they're not at the same spot." She opened her eyes "I'm gonna go check it out!" She took off running.

"Oi, Ginger!" Gajeel called

"That idiot!" Laxus said exasperated as he ran after her, with Gajeel just in tow

"Erza, you should wait here…" Gray turned to tell the red head, only to find she wasn't there, he looked ahead and she was already walking with her make shift cane behind the rest of them "honestly…"

Lector turned to Sting confused about what they just heard, it was almost like the Fairy Tail team members had forgotten those two were listening in.

Lia turned a corner, she was confused and worried, when she had sensed two Lucys but at the same spot she could blame it that something was messing with her magic, making her sense double, maybe whatever that dark magic was, but who she sensed right now…she had just sensed that person somewhere else, and the dark magic…at a distance she couldn't be sure, but this person was much closer than Lucy, that dark magic was like what Hades had used…Zeref's magic.

She turned another corner, into an alley and stopped, right behind her were Laxus and Gajeel, Erza and Gray staggered behind them a minute later.

"How…" Gajeel started as he smelled the guy standing in front of them, the person was wearing a cloak that hid his face.

"I thought you said they were all at the palace…" Laxus said to Lia, just as shocked.

"Now you understand why I wanted to check out." Lia told him focused on the person staring at them quietly.

"Who are you?" Erza asked

"Sorry…" The person muttered loud enough for them to hear "I just hasn't seen some of you in a while, so it took me by surprise" Erza and Gray were just as shocked when they recognized the voice.

"You are…" Gray started shocked

In the palace gardens, "Yukino!" Mira called.

"Yukino!" Eiran called, they had been searching for a while now, and eventually wandered into the palace gardens.

"Where are you?! Yukino!" Mira called again

"Mirajane…" A voice said quietly, as they looked towards where the voice came, sitting on the ground and hugging her knees was Yukino.

"What are you doing here?" Mira asked her as they walked towards her

"We were worried about you" Eiran added as he looked at the girl

"I'm sorry. I…" She started

"Come on. Let's go." Mira told her

"I can't." Yukino replied "If you're with me, you'll be stuck with misfortune." This made both Mira and Eiran frown "It's always been that way with me. Bad things always happen to the people around me."

"None of the people around me blame anyone else when bad things happen to them." Mira told her

"But…" Yukino started as she was about to cry but her eyes widened when Mira hugged her while putting her forehead to her's.

"It's okay." Mira told her "Everyone's life has meaning. Your life has meaning." This made Yukino smile as her tears fell, Eiran smiled too as he watched them.

A little while later in the town central square, were all the wizards that were in the games, crowd and town gathered and in front of them was the king, Toma E. Fiore. Lia had been flabbergasted when the guy had turned out to be the king, since she had recognized him with her sensing.

The Fairy Tail team didn't get a chance to tell Makarov about their meeting with that person, right after the person had left them on their own, and they headed back to the arena, they were kept busy between healers and Lamia Scale's Cheria taking care of their injuries to the best they can, which just meant they were not in a lot of pain when they moved and bandages covered almost their entire body.

Lia herself, upon on that person's warning even though he hadn't given them any details, casted her magic recovery enchantment on everyone that had been in the games, to help them recover for whatever was coming.

Which they had just found out after the king had explained the situation. "And so, I'm terribly sorry we don't have time to bask in the afterglow of the Grand Magic Games, But I've just heard that this country is facing a critical moment." Toma finished telling the gathered wizards

"10,000 dragons?!" Makarov exclaimed

"Even though we were no match for just one of them, Acnologia…" Cana said

"And even if that was a special case…" Lisanna said

"…10,000 of them…" Cana started

"Can we handle it?" Raine questioned

"Right now, a large-scale strategy is underway at the palace." Toma told them "The Eclipse Project."

"Eclipse?!" Lisanna repeated surprised

"The objective of this strategy is to eradicate all 10,000 dragons." Toma explained

"Eradicate? Can you really do that?" Cana asked

"I couldn't really say…" He replied looking down "As the enemy is a swarm, I'm sure several of them, maybe even several hundred of them, will survive."

"Yes, that's more realistic." Makarov said

"Wizard guilds, I must request that you please lend us your aid. I would like you to use you power to slay the dragons that survive." Toma told them as he bowed down, shocking everyone "That is all. Please save this country!"

The wizards cheered as shouts of agreement resounded bringing Toma to tears.

Erza turned to one of the guards "Our comrades have been captured by the royal army" She told him

"They're safe. We just got a report that they joined up with the princess." The guard told her

"All right! I'll go on a rampage one more time!" Gajeel said grinning

All the wizards were pumped even the injured, all ready to fight. "Thank you…Thank you…" Toma told them "Thank you…Thank you…Kabo…"

This got mixed reactions, while Lia covered her mouth to hold her laugh, the king on realizing his mistake coughed "Everyone, I'm counting on you!" He told them as they got pumped even more.

The guild masters were gathered to hear the plan and then tell the rest of their guild. Lia frowned as she remembered their confrontation with that person, the one from the future.

He had told them something was about to happen, but didn't elaborate even when they asked, just told them to keep on fighting and they'll make it, and that what he came to change was something entirely different.

The sound of the bell ringing announcing midnight, snapped Lia out of her thoughts "July 7th…" Gajeel muttered

"That's the day the dragons disappeared, right?" Levy said

"Are the dragons gonna appear on this day?" Gajeel wondered

Lia was frowning as she focused on the warning that the person gave them, he said he would find them again and explain everything when they had more time "Don't wander off, got it?" Laxus told her

"Ah.." She replied, that was that person's warning, one for her specifically.

Makarov came back "Fairy Tail will defend this central plaza!" He told his guild, the other guilds were already moving through town

"What about the guys from the other guilds?" Warren asked

"They're all standing by throughout the city." Max replied

Cana walked up to Erza "Erza, with those injuries, you need to sit this one out."

"This is nothing." Erza replied

"I can more or less move again thanks to Lyon, this healing girl, and the royal healer." Gray told Juvia who was fussing over his injuries

"Although if Wendy were here too, you'd be healed a little more." Juvia said

Freed stared at the red moon "At any rate, that's a creepy moon."

"Eclipse…A Lunar eclipse…" Laxus muttered

"Lunatic…like fighting 10,000 dragons" Lia muttered before she turned her head to look at the palace when she sensed the great magic concentration from over there, magic that was a mix celestial spirit with Zeref's magic. "Eclipse gate…they're opening it."

A minute later and the entire town was shaking "What is it? Magic power…No…" Erza said

"It's coming from the palace. Then…" Elfman said

"That Eclipse thing." Gray said

Lia's eyes widened when she sensed it "No" She said as all the Fairy Tail members turned to her "A Dragon! It just appeared out of nowhere at the palace." Their eyes widened, more when the sound of the roar reached all the way to where they were, followed by the destruction coming from the palace and the shockwave reaching all the way to where they were destroying all the buildings in the way.

"They're here?" Venus questioned

"A Dragon? Just one? Makarov questioned

"Yeah..no! Another just appeared!" Lia told him wide eyed, she was confused at how something that big could come out of nowhere "A third one…four…what the hell is going on?!"

"Where are they coming from?!" Gray wondered as they heard the roars

"I don't know, but they're appearing at the palace…right at-" Lia's eyes widened as realization hit her "Right at the Eclipse gate! That thing is supposed to be a time portal, that's how they're coming through!"

"Didn't the king say, it would get rid of the dragons?!" Cana questioned

"Looks like someone misinformed him" Laxus said

"Five dragons…we'll never make it to the palace in time to close it, Lucy and Wendy are there we'll have to leave that to them." Lia told them

At this points the dragons had left the palace area and were moving through town, one even passed in sight of them.

"So that's a Dragon?!" Sol questioned wide eyed

"They better close the gate before 10,000 of them come through" Gray said as they stared at the giant beings.

"Spread out! If you're bunched up, you'll all be annihilated with one attack!" Makarov ordered and they sounded their affirmative. "Lia keep us informed of when the gate closes and how many passed by then!"

"Understood!" She replied as they stared at the dragons through town, as of yet the dragons were not attacking and neither were the wizards, the dragons though were already destroying the town just by moving through it.

All of the sudden the dragons took into the sky, putting them out of reach of most wizards, while they all stared in shock at the dragons.

Back at the palace, at the Eclipse gate, the seventh dragon had just passed through the gate when Yukino, Mira and Eiran came running.

"I can help!" Yukino said, it took one look at scene to understand the situation they were in

"Yukino!" Happy cheered

"Mira and Eiran!" Wendy called

"Lucy! Please take out the 12 Gold keys!" Yukino told her "We'll combine them with mine, and use 12 keys to seal the portal!"

"With Celestial Spirits?!" Lucy questioned

"Lucy!" Yukino called throwing her two keys into the air

"Got it!" Lucy replied ten keys as well before they grabbed hands to combine their powers

"Celestial Spirits of the 12 Gold Keys…" Yukino started

"…lend us the power to seal away the evil!" Lucy continued

"Open…" Yukino said

"…12 Gates!" Lucy continued

A golden beam from the keys covered Lucy and Yukino "Zodiac!" The casted together, all the present stared in awe as all of the 12 spirits were summoned, before the spirits hit the two doors of the gates just as another dragon tried to keep the gate open to pass, but the power of the spirits were stronger as the gate's doors slowly closed on that dragon.

Once closed the spirits disappeared, as they all breathed better knowing they wouldn't have to deal with 10,000 dragons.

"You foiled my plan, Lucy and Yukino." A person said from behind them as they turned to face him "But seven dragons are still plenty."

"Rogue?" Yukino questioned

"What happened to Natsu?!" Lucy asked him but Rogue ignored her

"To be honest, I couldn't control 10,000 of them." Rogue told them

"What are you talking about?" Mira asked him

"Control?" Eiran questioned with narrowed eyes

"He's the one that told me about the future." Hisui told them

Arcadios turned to face Rogue again "He's the guy from the future who tricked you?"

"Are you saying that this was your aim all along?" Lucy questioned but Rogue grinned

"Listen to me well, you ignorant peasants!" Rogue shouted "I'm here to tell you that the world you know is coming to an end. The age of dragons is upon us!" The seven dragons landed behind him, making them all stare wide eyed at the dragons obeying him. "To begin, slaughter all the wizards in this city." At this 5 of the dragons dispersed all over town

"The dragons are obeying him?!" Carla wondered

"Before, he said something about control…Don't tell me…!" Lily said

"The secret art of controlling dragons…Dragon Manipulation Magic." Rogue told them laughing

"Controlling dragons?!" Happy questioned as a Dragon extends his arm for Rogue to jump on his hand

"What does he want?!" Mira wondered

"I don't know." Wendy replied

"We better focus on the problem right in front of us" Eiran told them as he faced the dragon still at the palace beside the gate

"I'll leave them to you…Zirconis." Rogue said before the said dragon laughed

"These humans look delicious!" Zirconis said

"That's…" Happy started

"…the one we met at the dragon graveyard!" Lucy finished

"Oh, no…" Wendy stared wide eyed

All over town the dragons were landing at where wizards were gathered, and all wizards started attacking, but the dragons were unaffected.

At the central plaza, the dragon made of fire landed, Lia had just informed Makarov a few minutes ago that seven dragons total had passed by the time the gate was closed.

"It's huge!" Jet yelled as they stared at the dragon

"Are you serious?" Alzack questioned, he along with all of who weren't on Tenroujima were more shocked at seeing a dragon

"Attack!" Makarov ordered as the guild started moving forward "Concentrate on its legs! Just like we planned!"

"I am Atlas Flame!" The Dragon introduced "I'm going to show you wretches the flames of hell!"

He fired a beam in front of them causing an explosion that sent most of them flying. Lia had barely managed to cast her destroy spell to try to protect herself along with Venus and Bisca who were beside her, but the spell didn't hold on and they ended up being flung backwards with the rest.

They were thrown out of the plaza and into the town's streets, when he fired another dragon roar that they barely dodged, but the roar hit the town hard.

"Have all the villagers evacuated?!" Erza asked

"Yeah, pretty much." Macao told her

"Word is they've taken refuge in a safe place." Romeo said

Bickslow laughed "Now we can really let loose!"

"I'll show them the glorious path of Man!" Elfman announced

The fired dragon was roaring loudly as they faced him. "This one's a fire dragon. That means we're on, Juvia!" Gray said

"Right, Gray! Let's unleash an attack formed from the might of our combined love!" Juvia replied making him blanch

"All kinds of comebacks come to mind, but now isn't the time!" Gray replied they put their hands together as they gathered their magic.

The rest of the guild cheered them as they released a combined attack of water nebula and ice geyser, the attack hit the dragon head on but he still wasn't affected.

"I am Atlas Flame, a fire dragon." The dragon told them taking a step forward "I'm going to burn down everything! And you shall bathe in dragon flames!" He announced as he started preparing for a breath attack.

Freed ran forward "Rune Magic! Nullify that attack!" He casted as Atlas Flame released the flame breath attack at them, easily breaking through the runes and throwing Freed backwards.

Everyone braced for the hit, but it never came, instead was the sound of a guitar, they watched in awe the flames were being held back by a wind wall, that was formed by both Venus and Lia, the latter using her Elementization wind form, both pushing themselves to blow the flames away, but just managed to hold it at bay.

"A-Amazing…" Macao noted as they watched the two till the flames dissipated and Lia, back to normal, and Venus dropped on the ground breathing hard from blocking that one attack.

"Still, it just brushed off Freed's Rune Magic!" Bickslow noted

"And it took Lia and Venus's all just to keep its attack at bay!" Lisanna noted

"It's attacking power is unbelievable!" Macao said

"And there are six more like it?!" Wakaba wondered

"Everyone, stay calm! Get back into position!" Erza ordered

Bickslow had helped Freed get up, while Laxus helped Lia and Max helped Venus. "I don't think we can hold another attack like that…" Venus muttered

"Yeah, hell we were trying to make it backfire, not just block!" Lia added

"What the hell?! That dragon's no different from Acnologia!" Elfman said

"I'd rather go with this one." Gray told him

"Same here" Raine told them

"You managed to block my flames…are you Wizards?" Atlas Flames asked them

Makarov walked forward "That's correct!" He replied as both Lia and Venus retreated beside their comrades.

"Master!" Erza called as they turned to Makarov

"You're going to do that magic?" Evergreen asked as he gathered his magic and grew in size till he was as big as the dragon.

"We're not just wizards! We're comrades who are tied together…" Makarov said before running at the dragon with a punch "…by the bond of family!"

The shockwave from his punch had all of them struggling to stay standing. Makarov retreated as his hand was hit with flames.

"Master's attack…" Macao noted

"…didn't work?!" Wakaba questioned

"It can't be…" Romeo muttered

"No matter how much power you possess, you can't beat a dragon." Atlas Flame told them before jumping at Makarov as a ball of flames that took all of Makarov's power to block and this time hitting the Fairy Tail members too, and throwing them backwards.

Back at the palace, Zirconis hadn't attacked yet and was watching all the destruction that was happening in town "They're making a ruckus over there, too." He noted "As long as they put up a good fight…" HE started laughing

"Zirconis…" Wendy muttered

"We talked to this guy when he was a ghost before…" Happy said

"I guess even back then, he talked too much." Lucy noted

"I don't just demolish and go on a rampage like the others. I'm the type that enjoys a good conversation." Zirconis told them "Well, I guess, I'm intelligent and possess refined taste, you could say. Look at you people with your terrified faces. Am I that scary? If you want to escape, you'd better do it now. Although I'll pursue and devour you…"

"Z-Zirconis!" Wendy called his attention as she took a step forward

"What is it, young lady? You wish to talk to me?" Zirconis asked her

"What is it you're after?! Why are all of you doing this?!" Wendy asked him

"Why? Ask the one over there." He told them pointing at the dragon that future Rogue had rode "The one that's flying, Motherglare…The little man riding on top is dishing out orders."

"You mean the Rogue that came from the future." Wendy said

"Well, I'm doing what he says because it's fun in its own way." Zirconis told them

"I don't understand. What purpose do you have in doing this?" Lucy muttered "If dragons destroy the world, there'll be no place for you either!"

"Maybe he's doing it out of revenge…" Eiran muttered as they all stared at where the dragon future Rogue was riding "We have no idea what happened in the future to make him like this."

Back where the Fairy Tail members were, Makarov had been fighting Atlas flame but nothing seemed to be working, eventually he was forced back to normal, tired and his hands burned.

"Master!" Wakaba and Macao called as they ran to his side along with the rest of the guild.

"Are you okay?!" Bickslow asked

"Hang in there!" Romeo told him

"Don't worry! Just got burned a bit." Makarov assured them

Atlas Flame took a step forward, as they all held their place. "Master's attacks hit, but didn't do any damage." Juvia noted

"What can we do to beat a monster like that?" Freed wondered

Gray turned to Mavis standing with Asuka "First Master! You're the Genius General, right? Don't you have a plan?!" He asked her

"I do. There are seven dragons. And I'm sure a number of the others have realized the same thing." Mavis told them

"What is your plan?!" Erza asked her

Lia frowned "I don't think she means a plan…more like our only hope" She muttered loud enough for Laxus standing beside her to hear, she casted her enchantments on him before her hand cackled with lightning and she raised her hand towards him "Eat up! You'll need it!"

"So the plan is Dragon Slayer Magic?!" He asked her as she nodded

At the same time a large explosion hit the dragon flying in the sky, causing it to start losing height, before a voice everyone recognized bellowed "Can you hear me?! Dragon Slayer Magic can down the dragons!"

"Natsu!" Gray noted

"We've got seven Dragon Slayers here!" Natsu continued "And seven dragons! Our magic exists for this very day! Dragon Slayers exist to fight this very battle! Let's go…dragon hunting!" Another explosion hit the dragon in the sky.

All the Dragon Slayers were grinning "So even Natsu realized it?" Lia noted grinning before looking at Laxus as he ate the lightning she gave him.

They were all shocked when the dragon in the sky started laying large eggs, that hatched on the ground and small dragons came out from.

"Are you serious?!" Romeo exclaimed

"Now we've got a lot more than seven to deal with." Mavis noted

"Even though it's hard enough just dealing with one…" Romeo noted, just as Laxus hit Atlas Flame side.

"Move. I'll take the big one." Laxus told them "You guys do something about the offspring."

"You can't do it on your own!" Romeo shouted

"He won't." Freed said as he and the rest of the thunder tribe walked forward

"He's not alone." Evergreen said

"We'll back you up, Laxus." Freed said

"Leave it to the thunder tribe!" Bickslow said

A lightning bolt hit Laxus "Thunder tribe and Lia, right?!" Lia corrected as she stood in her Elementization lightning form. She might be stubborn but ignoring a warning from the future wasn't something she was gonna do.

Mavis turned to the rest of the guild "You heard Natsu, right? It takes a Dragon Slayer to beat a dragon. Laxus, I'll let you, Lia and the thunder tribe handle this."

"Right" They replied together

"Gajeel, take on another one!" Mavis ordered him

"Gotcha!" He replied

"The rest of you, obliterate the little ones." Mavis ordered as the rest of the guild turned to face the little dragons.

"Sol, be careful!" Raine told her little brother as he requiped his two revolvers

"Don't worry, sis!" He told her, seeing the determination he had, she looked ahead focusing on the dragons, while pulling two orbs. "Bearer of the rune of Eihwaz, Ullr! Bearer of the rune of Tiwaz, Tiw! I summon thee!" The two spirits appeared beside her as she drew her chakrams.

"Dragons?!" Ullr questioned

"We haven't had to fight Dragons in a long time!" Tiw said

Back in the palace, they faced Zirconis but no fighting had started yet, he really tended to talk a lot.

Zirconis laughed "All right, who should I eat first? Let me see…" He looked towards Yukino and Lucy "You look tasty, young ladies." His eyes turned to where Mira, Wendy, Eiran and the Exceed stood "Although cats would be good for a change." His eyes turned to the royal army "What's this? There's also you rugged lot."

"Zirconis, don't you remember talking to us before?" Wendy asked him

Zirconis turned to her "You're a cute young think. Maybe I'll start with you."

Carla walked to Wendy's side "It's pointless, Wendy. The Zirconis we spoke to was a spirit that died long ago." Carla told her, but Wendy tried to object "You heard Natsu, right?" Carla continued "The only way to take down a dragon is with a Dragon Slayer! And you're the only Dragon Slayer we have right here, so get your head on straight!"

"I've decided! I'm gonna eat all of you at once!" Zirconis announced. The Fairy Tail members, Yukino, the princess and Arcadios hit the ground, when Zirconis fired a beam hitting everyone else.

"This is terrible…" Happy said

"He says one thing and does another!" Lily added

When the beam stopped they looked up, a cloud of dust covered the royal army, and from their voices they were still alive despite being hit. When the cloud of dust cleared, they were all naked though.

"Terrible!" Happy said as he, Lily and Eiran had shocked and repulsed look.

"Oh no, I think I'm gonna throw up!" Lily added

"How did we end up with the perverted dragon?" Eiran questioned

"You humans are delicious, but your clothes taste foul." Zirconis said "That's why I made them disappear." At this point the army soldiers took off running.

"I've never seen such an awful sight." Mira remarked

"Come to think of it, men taste disgusting." Zirconis said thoughtfully, before pointing at Lucy "Women. I'll eat the women." Which made Arcadios remark that the princess was a man, so he can't eat her.

"Was that magic just now?" Wendy asked him

"That's right. All dragons can use magic." Zirconis replied

"What kind of magic makes clothes vanish?!" Lucy asked him, so Zirconis stared at her, and her clothes disappeared.

"I use magic, as well. That's right." Zirconis told Wendy before grinning. "The type that robs humans of their dignity."

Eiran stared away, especially when he felt Mira's glare on him, choosing to focus on the dragon, but still took of his hoodie and threw it back to Lucy "Put this on!" Lucy took it gratefully, even though it was still wasn't covering much.

"The magic that I use is going to bring you down!" Wendy told him

"Magic that's going to bring me down, you say?" Zirconis said before he grabbed Lucy as they all called for her "You look dee-licious." He sniffed her as Lucy screamed.

Wendy was angry at this point and started gathering her magic, so did Eiran and Mira "What's this? Are you angry, young lady?" Zirconis asked Wendy "Can you defeat me before I devour this lass?" He started pushing on Lucy's head with his thumb

"Arms! Vernier! Enchant!" Wendy casted on herself, and on Mira, Yukino and Eiran as Mira changed to her Sitri form, while Eiran was covered in his crystal armor. "I will defeat you!"

Zirconis laughed "That optimistic attitude…is insolent!" He shouted and the shockwave sent them flying, before he took into the air.

"Lucy!" Wendy called as Zirconis laughed

Mira took off into the air behind him "Carla!" Wendy called as the exceed flew Wendy into the air.

Eiran grit his teeth, but Lily surprised him when he picked him up and took him into the air behind Wendy and Mira.

"Thanks Lily" He thanked

Mira hit Zirconis Jaw closed when he tried to eat Lucy, Eiran followed with his crystal barrage hitting Zirconis's face and forcing the Dragon to close his eye, while Wendy carried by Carla maneuvered behind the dragon and hit the dragon with her Sky Dragon's roar.

Zirconis grunted before he turned to Wendy annoyed as he threw Lucy away, Happy following her to try and catch her.

"I'll save Lucy!" Happy announced

"Please!" Wendy told him

"We're counting on you, Happy!" Carla told him

Before they turned to Zirconis "We'll deal with Zirconis!" Wendy declared as Mira and Eiran carried by Lily came to her side

"Right!" Mira said

"No one messes with Fairy Tail after all" Eiran said

"Don't get cocky, talking snacks." Zirconis told them "I'm going to eat you in a moment."

"We'll be you backup, Wendy!" Mira told her

"Thank you in advance!" Wendy told them

"We should ground him first!" Lily suggested

"Ah, it'll be easier to fight him on the ground." Eiran agreed

"Let's go!" Mira said as Wendy and Eiran agreed, Mira led the way as she met Zirconis head on, Zirconis fired a beam to try and hit Mira but the latter flew higher avoiding the beam, before coming down on his head with a fire punch.

Eiran landed on his back "Crystallization!" The back of the dragon turned to a crystal for just moment before it broke and he was back to normal, Eiran tusked as Lily flew them out of the way as Zirconis turned around to try and hit them.

"Sky Dragon's wing attack!" Wendy's attack hit the dragon's stomach

"That tickled" Zirconis said laughing as Wendy's eyes widened

"He's not affected at all!" Wendy exclaimed

"Don't give up Wendy!" Mira encouraged

"We're just getting started!" Eiran told her

* * *

 **Hope you liked it! :D I can't believe this arc is almost done, it was the longest so far! XD but I have so many plans to come after! ;)**

 **Also I Would love to hear what you think of the story and chapter so far :D  
**

 **and sadly bad news, the new college term starts next week T_T which means smaller chapters again! But I'll try my best to write despite that, just depends how much I can write especially since my laptop isn't fixed yet!  
**


	39. One Minute Difference!

Somewhere in Crocus, Venus, Max and Warren were together separated from the rest of the group.

"Song of Plant's Glory!" Venus casted as her Violin formed and she stared playing a tune that had green vines sprouting from the ground and tying the small dragons.

"Sand Slash!" Max casted as his sand hit multiple of the dragons that were tied, while Nab hit a few others while using his Animal possessing magic on his arm.

Warren stood behind them "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful" He told them

"Don't be like that! Just telling us where they're coming from, is saving us from lots of trouble!" Venus told him

"We're handling them easily cause of that!" Max agreed

"And we were just celebrating winning the games!" Nab said as they gathered together

"We'll throw an even bigger party after!" Venus grinned "I mean not all wizards can say they fought dragons and lived to tell the tale!"

At the same time, somewhere else in town "Watch out!" Bisca called to Raine who hit the ground as a beam from the side soared over her head, before he was shot down by Alzack.

"Are you okay, sis?" Sol called as Raine stood up again, by her side immediately were Tiw and a large Gorilla that transformed back to Loki.

Raine had told Ullr to go back and summoned Loki instead, when she had ended up with Bisca, Alzack and Sol, since they were all marksmen, so they covered their back while she and her spirits handled fighting upfront.

"I'm fine!" She answered as she stood clutching her chakram tight

"There's no end to them" Bisca noted

"Still better than having to fight the big ones" Alzack noted

"Incoming!" Tiw called as they all got ready to fight again

Back at where Atlas Flame was, his wings were destroying whatever was in their way as he moved. On top of a building was Freed, in an alley were Evergreen and Lia, and on the street were Laxus and Bickslow.

Atlas Flame moved towards Freed and raised his arm about to strike him "Don't underestimate the thunder tribe, huge one. If you're a living creature, then I'm sure you're able to feel pain and agony!" Freed told him as he used his eye magic "Dark Ecriture! Absolute Shadow!" Hitting the Dragon head on

"Fairy Machine Gun! Leprechaun!" Evergreen followed hitting the dragon, while Lia gathered her magic.

"Go, babies! Baryon Formation!" Bickslow said as his dolls hit the dragon with laser beams.

"Magic Burst: Heaven's punishment!" Lia casted as the beam hit the dragon, the difference between this spell and Heaven's light was that this one was a combination between the latter and her destroy spell, it was a spell to obliterate anything in its path if used at full power.

"Roar of the Lightning Dragon!" Laxus hit the dragon "How does it feel to get hit with everything at once?" The Dragon chuckled as their eyes widened

"I don't feel a thing!" Atlas Flame replied "My hellfire burns through magic!"

They all gathered beside Laxus "Dammit! This ain't funny." Laxus said

"You've got bad chemistry with this one, Laxus. Fire and Lightning together…" Freed told him

"Isn't there a Water Dragon Slayer around?" Evergreen wondered.

"Haven't heard of one…" Laxus replied

"We got a Fire Dragon Slayer over there, anyway." Bickslow pointed at the sky where Natsu being carried by Happy were, before Happy dropped him on top of the Dragon.

"Natsu?!" Laxus questioned

Lia's mouth twitched as she fought not to laugh "I was wondering when he'd get hungry."

"What are you talking about?" Freed asked her

But she didn't have to answer "Found you, Fire Dragon!" Natsu said as he landed on the Dragon's head

"Who the hell are you?" Atlas Flame asked him

"I'm Natsu, and right now I'm gonna…eat you!" Natsu announced before he started eating the fire

"Unbelievable!" Laxus said with a shocked look

"Moronic!" The thunder tribe said together, while Lia was laughing, when she had seen Atlas Flame, the first thought that came to her was Natsu would be having a feast, for the joke to be true, was too much.

The Dragon stated trying to shake off Natsu but the latter refused to let go and kept eating away.

"Natsu! What the hell are you trying to do?!" Laxus asked him

"I'm…getting this guy!" Natsu yelled back

"Getting?!" Laxus questioned

"I think he means eating." Lia said as she wiped a stray tear from all the laughing, she knew under normal conditions, she wouldn't be laughing, but considering how tired she was, mixed with the lack of sleep, she wasn't thinking properly. "Oi, Natsu don't talk with your mouth full!"

"Yeah! Yeah!" He replied grinning, before turning serious "Anyway, go to the palace, Laxus! Help Wendy!"

"Certainly, Dragon Slayer or not, Wendy is young." Evergreen noted

"She could be in trouble if she's on her own." Bickslow added

"Even with Mira, Eiran and Lucy as support, she's the only dragon slayer there" Lia added worried

"Let's go, Laxus." Freed told him "It takes a Fire Dragon Slayer to kill a Fire Dragon…right?"

"Natsu! So we can leave you with this one, yeah?" Laxus questioned

"Yeah! I'm gonna get more powerful by eatin' this guy!" Natsu shouted back

"Okay, let's go to the palace." Laxus told them

"Roger!" They all replied as they turned and started running towards the palace, as Happy joined them flying beside them.

Lia looked up "Happy, you think you can fly Laxus?" She asked the Exceed

"Aye!" He replied

"What for?" Laxus asked her

"With the amount of mini Dragons in our way, it'll take forever to get to the palace" She explained as she sensed them "Also…" She pointed at the sky above the palace where the dragon was obviously visible, and the magic explosions around him "The dragon, Wendy and the others, they're in the air!"

"That's true, last I was there they were fighting him in the air." Happy told them

"So he's airborne?" Freed repeated "That won't be favorable to us!"

"We'll just have to ground it then!" Laxus said "Let's go Happy!"

"Aye!" Happy said as he picked up Laxus, while Lia, Freed, Evergreen followed into the air each using his own way.

Back at the palace, or above it were Mira, Eiran carried by Lily and Wendy carried by Carla. "Damn it!" Eiran cursed

"We can't even make him land" Mira said

"Our attacks aren't affecting him…" Wendy muttered

Zirconis laughed "Humans can only dream of beating dragons, in reality you're just food for us!"

"Lily, Carla, how much longer can you hold your Aera magic?" Mira asked them

"Not much longer!" Carla replied

"It's getting harder!" Lily replied

"If Wendy landed we really won't stand a chance" Eiran said "We need to figure something out before that happens!"

Wendy nodded, but before they could move to attack lightning hit Zirconis from above, in that lightning was Laxus, punching the said Dragon.

"Everyone, you alright?!" Happy asked as he joined them, with him were Bickslow and Evergreen.

"Happy!" Wendy called "Lucy is alright?!"

"Aye!" Happy replied

"Bickslow!" Eiran noted

"Evergreen!" Mira called

"Yo! We came to help!" Bickslow told them

"Well you guys look beat up!" Evergreen noted "You might want to move out of the way though!"

"Lia and Freed are planning something big on the ground!" Bickslow told them as his dolls repeated 'big'.

On the ground on the palace roof Freed was placing runes in a big square, while Lia was at the edge sitting cross legged as she gathered her magic.

At the same time Zirconis was trying to shake off Laxus, as Laxus kept punching his back with lightning covered punches.

When Zirconis flew upside down, Happy caught Laxus and flew him away as Zirconis righted himself. "You humans are really annoying, but more snacks for me!" Zirconis said

"Keep on dreaming!" Laxus told him

"Now, Laxus!" Freed shouted from the ground

"Right, Happy!" Laxus called as the Exceed flew Laxus higher before throwing him on top of the dragon and getting away himself "Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!" Laxus said as he hit the Dragon's back.

On the ground Lia put both her palms on the ground, as Freed closed his runes, showing the rule 'Gravity inside the rune is doubled for non-humans'

"Gravitas!" Lia casted and the Gravity increased by so much that between her spell, Freed's runes ad Laxus's hit the force was too much it sent the dragon to the roof of the palace hitting it hard.

The rest of the wizards landed beside Lia and Freed, behind them were Yukino and Arcadios protecting the princess.

"Amazing!" Arcadios noted

"They managed to force it to the ground?!" Hisui noted surprised

"Fairy Tail wizards are amazing" Yukino noted as she recognized both Lia and Laxus from the games.

Lia stopped the spell, breathing hard, before she was pulled back by Happy flying her out of the way as Zirconis got to his feet and swung around his tail hitting where she had been, "Thanks Happy!" She told him as they landed beside the princess where the rest joined them.

"Damn it!" Zirconis said as he roared and his roar broke through Freed's runes returning the gravity to normal.

"Why don't you quiet down?! Raging Bolt!" Laxus said jumping to the ground before he hit the dragon with his lightning.

"Are you guys okay?" Lia asked Mira who had stopped using her take over and Eiran whose armor was gone as well.

Eiran frowned "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Eiran asked her as he noticed the bandages covering her upper body, easily shown by the sleeveless tank top she was wearing.

She grinned "Well…we won the games" She told him "So let's get of this problem so we can celebrate."

"Still it's a good thing you came." Carla told them

"Yeah, I don't think I was doing much to it" Wendy said as they watched Laxus fighting the dragon

"Guys, we have company!" Bickslow turned their attention to behind them were some of the small dragons were coming.

Freed, Evergreen, Lia, Eiran and Mira walked forward to fight them "Wendy, stay with Yukino to protect the princess" Mira told her

"And support Laxus when you can" Lia told her

"We'll handle those easy!" Freed said

"We can actually let loose on those and have results!" Bickslow said

"Enough chitchat!" Eiran said

The wizards walked forward about to attack, Lia when moved to follow was stopped by hands holding her shoulder from behind, causing her eyes to widen when she sensed who it belonged to.

Lia had to bite her tongue to stop from screaming when her magic was being ripped out of her body.

"Lia!" Wendy's called which made Eiran turn to look at what happened, Lia shoulders were being held by someone he recognized even if he was older, and beside that person were two others, one of them he also recognized.

Lia teleported out of the grab and landed on the ground beside Eiran breathing hard, Eiran grit his teeth as he moved to stand protectively in front of her. "Ruosir!" He called as he recognized the guy who had grabbed Lia's shoulders.

He was definitely older, but recognizable. Red eyes stared at them, while smirking, his black hair longer and being held in a ponytail, he was shirtless, but wearing black combat pants tucked into combat boots, and he was tall and more muscular than seven years ago.

"Who are these, guys?" Mira asked as she had turned around and joined Eiran, the thunder tribe kept an ear out, but focused on destroying the small dragons.

"Lia, are you okay?" Evergreen asked when they noticed that she was still on the ground breathing hard.

"A-Ah!" She replied as she forced herself into a standing position, it had taken her a few seconds to cast her magic regeneration enchantment and get rid of Ruosir's hold on her magic that threatened to keep taking it after she had escaped his clutch.

"Eptá Amartíes!" Eiran told them

"The dark guild?!" Freed questioned as he and the rest of the thunder tribe continued to face the small dragons, keeping an ear out, Eiran, Mira and Lia were the ones completely focused on the three dark wizards.

"What are they doing here?" Bickslow asked as Arcadios ushered the princess away from the three dark wizards, followed by Yukino and Wendy, the latter ushered away by Carla and followed by Happy and Lily.

"And we were hoping to do this without a fight." Xenos said since he was one of the two beside Ruosir, the other was a heavily cloaked person. "Come with us quietly, Lia? We did warn you, and fighting Dragons counts as life threatening."

"You're not taking anyone!" Eiran growled as he glared at them

Lia bit her lip, had she been separated…if she hadn't stay with Laxus and the thunder tribe, she would be dealing with those three along with the small dragons on her own, but still it now it involved her friends too, she didn't know if she should be grateful to that person from the future or not.

"Xenos~ Let's fight already!" The cloaked person whined.

"I have to agree, they won't go down just like that!" Ruosir added before he licked his lips looking at Mira "Though I am also interested on what the magic of a demon would be like!"

Xenos looked at Lia "What are you gonna do, Lia?" He asked her "You're gonna keep your friends busy with fighting us? When they need to be supporting your other friends against the dragons, small and big?"

Lia faltered, it was the worst possible situation, they couldn't just leave Laxus on his own, and she can sense the number of small dragons heading their way, the Thunder tribe would need help.

Laxus had heard everything that was going on, thanks to his enhanced hearing, but he had his hands busy with Zirconis who wasn't relenting, or showing a sign of being affected by the attacks. "Focus on fighting them!" Laxus shouted

"That's right!" Evergreen added

"We'll handle the small dragons!" Freed added

Bickslow laughed "They're not any trouble, so focus on getting beating those guys!" He shouted back

Lily transformed into his fighting form and started fighting the dragons with the Thunder tribe "They won't stand a chance against us!"

"I will support Laxus!" Wendy yelled to them too

Lia breathed as she smiled with determination filling her eyes, she was actually thinking about going down without a fight. "Guess you got your answer, Xenos!" She placed a hand on Eiran's shoulder and the other on Mira's "Body Enchant: Defendo! Celero! Robur! Reflex!"

Mira changed into her Sitri form while Eiran was covered in his armor "We won't let them take one of our friends just like that!" Mira announced

"Thanks, everyone!" Lia whispered as Mira and Eiran smiled at her before turning serious and looking at the dark mages.

"Ruosir, don't be mad but I'm taking the demon!" The cloaked woman told him before she teleported and appeared in front of Mira, before she kicked the she-demon away from the other two wizards.

"Mira!" Lia and Eiran called but Mira back flipped landing on her leg and blocking Envy's next kick

"I am fine!" She yelled back

Lia frowned, she sensed Envy's magic change property, and how it was right now confused her.

"I will take, Ruosir!" Eiran whispered snapping her out of her thoughts "Since he absorbs magic, yours would be the worst match"

"Ah!" She nodded as they faced the two other dark wizards, Ruosir irritation appeared on his face.

"Let's go!" Eiran said

Eiran ran at Ruosir, the latter dropping his irritation and grinning as he crossed his arms in front of him blocking Eiran's punch.

"Guess I will settle for revenge." Ruosir said

Xenos walked forward to avoid being hit by Eiran and Ruosir in their fight, his demeanor didn't match with how everything was going around him, he was far too calm, walking at leisurely pace hands in his pockets.

Lia was tense, as she watched him alertly, she was waiting for him to make the first move, but he just kept walking towards her, and when it seemed he was getting too close, she threw the first attack "Magic Missile: Fire!" As the fire balls headed for him he lazily moved one hand out of his pocket.

"Amplification Form Mirror!" Multiple circular mirrors connected together appeared in front of him, before her fire balls and were absorbed into them, then they were fired out of the mirror bigger in sized and stronger in magic she teleported away appearing to the side as they hit where she had stood.

She scowled at Xenos nonchalant look, while still smirking, it was clear he was confident that she wouldn't be able to win here.

"Why don't you just come quietly?" He offered again "You'd save us and yourself the trouble!" He started walking towards her again

Mira and Envy were exchanging blows, not one of them gaining ground. Envy teleported before appearing above Mira and bringing her leg down as Mira crossed her arms blocking, Mira's eyes widened slightly when she noticed the magic it strangely felt like her takeover Sitri, she had on right now.

Mira grabbed Envy's legs and throwing her away, but the latter teleported and landed on her feet, before she giggled "Mirajane Strauss, You possess Take Over: Satan Soul but you're an idiot that wastes its potential by holding back." Envy paused before she spoke again her voice dropping the childish and silly tone, and into an angry hateful one "You don't deserve what you have! None of you Fairy Tail wizards do!" Her tone changed back to childish and silly "So I will be happy to take it from your hand…and might as well relieve you from your life while at it!"

Mira frowned, as Envy teleported in front of her with flame punch, Mira countered with the same as the two punches met; it caused a shockwave that made the hood of Envy fall down. Mira's eyes widened as she stared at Envy's face…her own face in its Sitri form smirking back at her, like she was staring into a mirror.

"How did you…?" Mira asked but was hit when Envy used her confusion to kick her side

"Not gonna tell~" Envy said in a singsong voice

Eiran dodged before casting his Crystal shackles spell to try and hold Ruosir's arms. "Force Field!" dark green magic sphered surrounded Ruosir as he crossed his arms in an x, destroying Eiran's shackles. "You really think the same trick would work again?" Ruosir grinned evilly "You know I was hoping the plan would fail, and we'd have to fight, I wanted revenge on her after all, but facing you that's even better!"

"You should have never left prison!" Eiran told him glaring as he ran at Ruosir and tried to punch him, but Ruosir twisted out of the way and tried to grab Eiran to take his magic, but the latter moved faster with a kick aimed for Ruosir's stomach, the latter took it wincing at the force but grabbed Eiran's leg before he was forced to raise his arms to stop the crystal shards head for his face, the crystal turned to dust as it was met with Ruosir's magic.

Ruosir grunted though when Eiran's crystal leg armor, protruded hitting Ruosir in the stomach, and sending him backwards, Ruosir got up laughing "Not bad…makes it more the fun when I get rid of ya!"

Lia teleported away to avoid her magic burst that was reflected on her, she's been trying to break through his mirrors with her attacks, but so far everything reflected on her with double the power.

Two magic circles, one above her and the other under her, appeared. "Kaleidoscope!" Xenos casted, before she could react, as she found herself inside a mirror prison.

She tried to teleport outside, but it was sealed shut, with no openings for her to pass through with Fragment apparition. "Hard way it is!" She clapped her hands together "Destroy!" The mirror prison shattered around her as she landed on the ground but the mirror's shards didn't disappear.

"Don't you know it's bad luck to break a mirror?" Xenos said smirking before snapping his fingers "Seven mirror misfortunes!"

The shards around her started shinning as they gathered together, before the shinning stopped and instead stood seven copies of herself around her, all staring at her with blank looks as her eyes widened.

When the clones started gathering magic for her magic burst she teleported and their attacks hit three of them, while four weren't hit.

"Braking more mirrors means more bad luck" Xenos told her as the copies instead of seven were now a group of 25 clones, they were to her right and to her left was Xenos, behind her the patio that would be a large fall.

"Not gonna leave a trace then!" Lia replied as she teleported into the air above the large group "Magic Burst: Heaven's Punishment!" She didn't charge the spell since she didn't need power, the clones didn't have large defensive power, and she just needed to make sure they ended up dust.

The beam hit them straight on, when it faded the clones were gone and none were created again. Xenos whistled "That's a first!" He said as she landed on the ground facing him "I'm impressed, I always wondered how it be like if you actually had magic every time you escaped and I was sent to find you." He told her smirking "Without magic, you still managed to surprise us, so I was expecting something, I am glad not to be disappointed!" His tone and smirk was mocking, after all, he still stood completely unharmed, even if he hadn't attacked Lia directly yet, she was already worn, he was just amusing himself with fighting with her.

Xenos smirk widened when he noticed her glare, before they froze when some of the small dragons climbed over the side of the patio.

"Magic Burst: Arrows!" Lia casted the arrows hit the small dragons closest to her and she used the chance to try and hit Xenos while at it, but her just waved his hand and used his form mirror again, this time though the attack reflected on the small dragons near him. "Thank you, Lia! Didn't know you care!" Lia glowered at him. "That's the look!"

She disappeared from his vision as she appeared above him, gathering her magic. She was gonna test that confident of his "Magic Burst: Heaven's punishment!" The beam hit and like she expected the beam hit the mirror, she kept at it trying to break them but it didn't work.

She teleported away expecting it to reflect back at her, but he didn't release it, just smirked at her "I warned you at the start you'd get your friends involved. Remember this was your fault!" He snapped his finger and her beam amplified released, heading straight for Eiran.

"Eiran!" Lia shouted taking a step forward and fell into something, she didn't realize was even there, it was completely dark, the only light coming from where she had fell, she turned around and tried to get out but can only bang against the surface that trapped her.

She watched in horror as her beam headed for Eiran, only for the latter to be pushed out of the way by Mira, who got hit instead, taking it full blow, she saw the horror expression on Eiran's face as Mira's takeover disappeared, having saved her from being disintegrating, but not death.

She tried everything to get out of where she was but nothing worked. "You won't be able to get out, till I let ya!" A voice echoed in the void "It's my mirror dimension after all" And he laughed as Lia's tears fell when she saw her friend's body lying motionless because of her.

"Laxus!" Freed's shout came and her head turned and barely on the edge of her prison she saw it, Laxus getting bit by the dragon as he shielded Wendy.

They weren't the only ones, Gray got hit to save Juvia, Anise when Cheria didn't pay enough attention, Nab as he pushed Warren out of the way, Lucy, Bacchus, Macao, Droy, Gajeel, and many others.

* * *

"Magic Burst: Arrows!" Lia casted the arrows hit the small dragons closest to her and she used the chance to try and hit Xenos while at it, but her just waved his hand and used his form mirror again, this time though the attack reflected on the small dragons near him. "Thank you, Lia! Didn't know you care!" Lia glowered at him. "That's the look!"

Before she could teleport she froze, "What the…?" She wasn't the only one, Eiran and Mira froze too as they saw the vision of what would happen in the next minute.

"A vision?" Xenos muttered frowning before he shouted "Envy! What the hell was that?!"

The said girl teleported beside him as her look as Mira faded out and she brought her hood up before they could see her face. "Time magic probably…Ultear is the only one I know of that can do magic like that. I am not sure though."

"Go and find out then!" He barked at her as she nodded and teleported away. "We don't need any surprises."

Mira landed beside Lia, as the latter looked down guiltily "Mira…I…"

Mira put her hand on Lia's shoulder "It's not your fault" Before the two looked at the mirror wizard "Let's take care of him!"

At the same time, Laxus didn't have to shield Wendy since the latter had dodged and used her sky dragon's roar on Zirconis, as Laxus used his Lightning dragon's roar.

This one minute was the one that every wizard fighting needed, all over Crocus wizards saw one minute into the future. That one minute was enough to save lives and turn the tides of battle to their advantage.

Xenos was forced to raise his form mirror when Eiran had casted his Crystal spikes headed for him, it hit the mirrors but it then formed behind the mirrors forcing Xenos to dodge. "Ruosir!" He called angrily only to find the said guys was trapped inside a multiple layer crystal dome, trying to get out, while Eiran was glaring at Xenos from where he stood.

At the same time Lucy had come running towards the princess, Yukino, Arcadios and the Exceed, as she showed them her future self's notebook, with a the note inside that have them deduct that if they destroyed the Eclipse gate, they could stop all of this.

"Magic Burst!" Lia casted and forced the mirror wizard to cast his Form mirror, but Mira punched him from above forcing him to lose focus and the form mirror to fall as Lia's beam hit him.

Instead of hitting the ground he passed through a mirror he formed on it, as multiple mirrors appeared all over the place. Lia teleported away as he appeared from the mirror closest to her. The one that attacked him was Eiran though with his crystal hail, forcing him back to the mirror.

Ruosir had just escaped the crystal dome, and Xenos appeared out of a mirror beside him. As Lucy and Yukino started trying to destroy the gate with their magic.

Envy appeared beside them "I couldn't find anything" She muttered to Xenos as he glared at her, before he turned to focus on the three Fairy Tail wizards.

They didn't get to fight them as a flaming ball in the sky headed straight to where they were, forcing them all take cover.

The flame ball with the dragon inside it hit the gate causing an explosion, when the smoke cleared the gate was destroyed with a dragon lying on its remains; on top of the dragon were Natsu and a defeated Future Rogue.

And because of that the dragons small and big started glowing a bright yellow glow. Even Xenos, Envy and Ruosir stopped to watch what was going on.

"Xenos?" Envy called not sure what they were supposed to do now.

"The Dragons are disappearing…master's orders were clear!" Ruosir told them grumbling, he didn't want to leave the fight like that, it was like they were running with their tails between their legs, but he didn't want to face their Master's wraith.

"Let's go!" Xenos said nodding as Envy grabbed them and they teleported just as the dragons disappeared.

Lia watched them go along with the small dragons and Zirconis who had been kept busy by Hisui for the few seconds till he disappeared. She let out a sigh of relief as she dropped to the ground exhausted.

"It's over…" She muttered, before smiling as she saw Eiran run to Mira pulling the girl into a hug.

Eiran hugged Mira as she let out a surprised yelp. "Eiran…" She muttered

"Never…Never do something like that again! You…Never do it again! You live no matter what!" He told her, he was hugging her too tight so she couldn't take a good look on his face, but she smiled with a faint blush.

"Alright" She whispered as she hugged him back.

Lia turned from the scene when she saw Laxus frowning at where Zirconis was, she got up and made her way over to him "What's wrong?"

He looked at her as she sat beside him "We didn't beat the Dragon…" He muttered

"So?" She asked him "We're alive…and that almost didn't happen" She said as she recalled in the vision he was bitten by Zirconis.

Laxus frowned before sighing, he too remembered the vision "You've got a point!"

"At least something good came out of it!" she said as she smiled at where Lucy was hugging Natsu too, and Eiran still hugging Mira.

Lia had to dodge to the side as three people hugged Laxus crying making almost tumble over, and she covered her mouth barely holding back her laughter, as she watched the three crying over their beloved Laxus and Laxus eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

All over town, wizards celebrated their victory even if the Dragon slayers were frustrated they hadn't beaten the dragons but for now they were alive.

* * *

 **Writing Envy was pretty hard especially since when it came to her magic, I knew what I wanted it to be and at the same time I didn't. If it makes any sense XD And with the next chapter featuring the ball (maybe the return to Magnolia, depending how fast I can write) The GMG arc will be officially over :D**

 **Hope you liked the chapter and I love to read your reviews they make me feel motivated to write even more :D**


	40. The Grand Ball!

**Year x778**

Sophia cursed for about the one hundredth time today. She was sitting in her living room with a certain old book on forbidden and dark magic, that she hoped would give her insight on how to counter, or at least know when to run when the said magic was being cast, thing is she was having time understanding most of the text which led to her mind trying to wander.

It was times like this she hoped she had the family gene for liking to read, enjoying it and actually understanding most of stuff more than normal people, but that gene had escaped her, even though her daughter had it, that girl could got through so many books just for the sake of understanding something, without even realizing it, and most of the times leaving Sophia baffled.

"Why the hell can't someone just write this simple?!" She shouted frustrated before she leaned back on the couch and threw the book on the coffee table in front of her "Why was I doing this again?" She muttered as she stared at her roof sadly, she knew why…she always knew…didn't stop her from wishing things were different…wishing things were normal.

A knock on her door snapped her out of her reverie, and caused her to frown she wasn't expecting visitors, then again Lia, Laxus and Eiran were out on a job, and were supposed to come back today…maybe they lost the key, the thoughts swirled in her head as she made her way to the door, before she opened the door and was genuinely surprised to see Mira standing there.

Mira was looking at the ground, avoiding looking at Sophia, she kicked the empty air, with her hands behind her back, she had no idea why she came back here, Sophia had pulled her along once, didn't mean she would just agree to do it again.

"Mira?" Sophia called questioning trying to get the girl's attention, but she stubbornly kept looking away, and Sophia might have caught the slight reddening on the girl's cheeks.

"Say…" Mira started quietly so much unlike the rough personality she had started showing to everyone in the guild after her siblings and she had settled into the guild. "Do you mind if…"

Sophia immediately grinned as she realized why the girl was here, and it was so adorable how awkward she was from asking something like that. "You know…" Sophia started since Mira was having so much hard time getting the words to form "There's this one recipe, I like to make whenever I come back from a long job."

Mira blinked her blush intensifying a bit as she was ushered in by the older woman, though she was feeling giddy.

* * *

 **Year x791**

A few days after the Dragon's invasion, after some parts of town were fixed with magic and the wizards given the chance to heal and rest, they were all invited to a grand banquet to celebrate both the games and the passing of the invasion.

Inside the palace, in one of the many dressing rooms the girls were allowed to change into their dresses in.

"Ta da!" Venus announced as she twirled in her dress, a long A line dress, with the dress's skirt being three layered, each with varied height and each a gradiation of violet, and the top being strapless with a dark violet long sleeved bolero jacket, with a simple choker necklace. Her blonde hair was half up and half down draped over her shoulder. "What do you guys think?!"

"You look great, Venus." Raine told her, as Venus grinned.

"You look pretty amazing yourself!" Venus told her.

Raine's dress was a light blue ball gown, with spaghetti straps holding it around the neck, and off shoulder short sleeves, and the skirt having a lace layer on it. Her hair was in an elegant side braid that was draped over her shoulder.

"Lia! Evergreen! Hurry up would ya, we're gonna miss the party like that!" Venus called back, both her and Raine were already ready, the girls had separated into groups in different rooms and hers had Raine, Lia and Evergreen with her, not that she minded, Lia had been helping them adjust the dresses.

They had gone shopping yesterday, but not lots of shops still stood, so their option was limited and Lia didn't have enough fabric to make dresses from scratch.

"I'm already done! You shouldn't rush perfection though, Venus." Evergreen told her as she came from behind the dressing curtain in her off shoulder red ball gown, her hair was already done before she dressed so she was all ready to go.

"Maybe I should have gone with a different one after all…" Lia said as she came out, Lia's dress was a strapless ball gown, with a white empire bodice, a silver simple belt separating it from the dress's black skirt that had a glittery lace layer on it, and separate lace white sleeves with golden embroidery along with a simple choker necklace. Her hair was mostly down but for a braid that was pulled across to crown her head, and her bangs side swept framing her face.

Lia bit her lip as she crossed her hands, the dress was fine but the fact it was strapless and showed her cleavage more than she was comfortable with and she didn't have a jacket that could go with it, at the shop they had went to, it was the only thing that caught her eyes. She was thinking about changing it a bit.

"Don't even think about it!" Evergreen told her as she recognized the twinkle that died in Lia's eyes as she pouted, Evergreen though grinned.

"Since we're all ready, let's go!" Venus cheered as she led they was the other girls following after her, even Lia gave in with a sigh, she had to catch herself when she almost fell over, she was wearing heels, her most dreaded fashion item and she wasn't given a choice about it.

"How the hell are they fine with them…?" She muttered to herself as she started following the girls.

They didn't have to walk far, when they reached the door leading to the ball room, they stopped, the girls blinked while Lia giggled when they saw Eiran pacing in front of the door. "You girls go ahead, I'll handle this!" She told them

"Alright!" Evergreen said a knowing look in her eyes.

The girls went inside while Lia crossed her hands "Eiran." She called making him stop his pacing and his eyes widen slightly as he noticed her, Lia snorted "You're a mess, calm down!"

His suit was the classic style, black coat over dark blue vest and dress shirt with a blue ascot tie cravat, grey pants tucked at the end into elegant black boots. "Stand straight!" She ordered and he followed "Take a deep breath and let it out!" He followed her instruction "Is Mira inside already?"

"N-No!" He replied finding his voice "By the way did you…?"

She grinned as she held her hand and requipped the small blue velvet box "Of course, I did it!" She handed it over and he tucked it into his pocket "Now let's go inside and make sure you unwind!" She told him as she held into his arm pulling him inside and grimaced following and thinking what the hell he had gotten himself into.

The ball room was astonishing, music filled the room as some people danced while other talked, and some headed to one of the many tables filled with food.

The group of girls Lia had come with, were already separated, Raine standing with Sol, Venus with Laki and Kinana, and Evergreen with the Thunder tribe and Laxus.

The rest of the guild sans Lucy, Mira, Wendy, Lisanna and Natsu were already there each enjoying themselves, though Macao with struggling with getting Cana to lay off the drinks and behave.

Lia ended directing the both of them to where the Thunder tribe were, she knew she'd need back up in case he decided to chicken out and Lisanna wasn't here yet. Though when she saw the girls all over Laxus's arms she faltered slight with a pang in her chest before she continued with a grin to hide anything.

Eiran was oblivious to any of that, lost in all the worst possible scenarios in his head. "Hey, guys!" She greeted as Eiran copied her in a mumble

"What's up with him?" Bickslow asked as he saw the grimace on Eiran's face

"Well…" She started grinning as he sobered up, giving her a warning look

"Don't you dare!" He warned her

"It's gonna be public knowledge by tonight." She told him snorting at the same time Freed was busy trying to get the girls off of Laxus, while the blonde was ignoring them completely his eyes focused on the orange head, in a bit of shock.

"I am pretty sure Lisanna will make sure of it!" Evergreen added slyly as Eiran's eyes widened before narrowing at Lia in blame "It's pretty obvious by now!" Evergreen added saving the girl and causing Eiran to groan.

"Oh, so you're finally confessing to Mira?" Bickslow asked as he grinned catching on, causing Eiran to groan again and cover his eyes with one hand.

"It was more obvious given what you did after the dragon's disappeared" Freed added "Right, Laxus?"

"A-Ah!" Laxus added hesitantly as he snapped out of it, Lia though hadn't even noticed he had started at her for so long, trying to avoid looking at the girls over his arms; the Thunder tribe shared a knowing look though.

"I need a drink…" Eiran mumbled as he headed for the buffet tables

"Better go make sure, he doesn't get too drunk before Mira gets here." Lia added as she followed

It was a few minutes after Eiran started drinking when Mira, Lisanna, Lucy, Wendy and Yukino arrive together, Eiran noticed the group immediately and swallowed his drink in one go.

"I can't do this." He muttered as their guild mates welcomed the late girls and noted the missing Natsu.

"You can!" Lia encouraged as the girls separated, and their guild mates along with a group from the other guild continue to make a scene and enjoy the party.

Venus was with Yukino, Lisanna, Mira and Elfman enjoying the food "It's true, I can see the resemblance!" Venus agreed with Mira statement about Lisanna and Yukino

"We just share some traits…" Lisanna added dejectedly while Yukino blushed in embarrassment with a shy smile

"She's more of a mix of your looks and Raine's personality!" Venus noted snapping her fingers

"I wonder where Natsu is…" Lisanna questioned trying to change the subject as Venus shrugged

"Is it normal for him to disappear?" Yukino asked

"No, he's usually the one making the loudest noise." Mira told her

Gray was enjoying the food at the table when Juvia approached him "Gray, Juvia have become version 2.0." She told him

"Since when have you been like a machine?" Gray asked her

"And now Juvia is plunging into a new age." She told him before jumping to hug him "Gray, I love you!"

Gray side stepped her "No thank you!" He told her as she fell to the ground "I've also entered a new age. When I don't like something, I'm gonna be brutally honest about it."

Juvia cries before recovering immediately and started blushing "Gray, you're dreamy even when you scold Juvia!"

"The new version is worse than the old!" Gray said annoyed

"Don't talk like that, Gray." Lyon told him as he and Anise followed by Yuka and Toby joined the two.

Anise was in a halter style long, A-line yellow dress with black embroidery and her hair side pulled along with her bangs to show both eyes.

"You should treat a woman with more kindness." Lyon told him

Anise snorted "Says the guy who asked me out while we were in the middle of shouting at each other." She added making him blush nervously

"Looks like you're not making a good arguing point!" Gray told him "Anyway, I wonder where Natsu went."

"It's hard to believe Natsu isn't at a noisy place." Juvia agreed

At this point almost everyone in Fairy Tail noted Natsu's absence.

Raine ended up walking into Lia who was trying to encourage a nervous Eiran "Is he okay?" Raine asked, the grimace he wore would make anyone worried

"More or less" Lia answered with a slight chuckle, before the three of them turned when Sting's loud voice called in shock, what they saw had them blinking in surprise.

Mermaid's Kagura was arguing with Sting that Yukino was gonna join Mermaid Heel while Sting argued she was joining Sabertooth.

"Wait!" Erza called as Fairy Tail joined the fray "We can't stay silent in this matter, either."

"That's a man." Elfman said

"That's right! The way things have been going, it's natural for her to join our guild!" Lucy added

"Yeah!" Gray agreed

"Juvia doesn't need any more competition to be Gray's bride, but…" Juvia said

"We have similar characteristics, but…" Lisanna added dejectedly

"Yukino would fit right in with us!" Venus added with the group

Blue Pegasus "We disagree…If a beautiful woman like you…" Eve told her

"…joins us in Blue Pegasus…" Hibiki continued

"…you'll shine." Ren finished

Ichiya and Nichiya joined them "Sniff-sniff! I smell a sweet, beautiful parfum!" Ichiya told her

"Join us!" Jenny told her

Lyon, Yuka and Tobi joined too while Jura, Anise and Sherry watched from the sidelines "If it's come to this, then Lamia Scale shall also take part in the battle for Yukino." Lyon said

"What's the point of competing?" Jura asked

"Probably cause Gray joined." Anise answered

"Join us!" Toby shouted

"Don't get mad about it." Yuka told him

Quatro Cerberus was next "In a guild that reeks of men, one beauty would make my soul tremble!" Bacchus announced "I don't care about the tournament, but we will win this battle!"

Yukino tried to calm everyone but even the guild masters joined in and the fighting started, Raine watched with shock, but Lia was already busy making sure to dodge incomings thrown their way while encouraging Eiran.

"Looks like our fighting tendencies are contagious" Lia said as she pulled Raine out of the way of an incoming candle stick before she grinned "At least everyone's having fun!"

"A-Ah!" Raine said smiling at the scene. Their focus shifted when Arcadios shouted at the upper floor.

"Everyone! That's enough!" Arcadios yelled before he hit the ground with his sword making a loud bang. Everyone stopped fighting to focus on him "You showed great valor during the Grand Magic Games, and your efforts saved the country. His Majesty would express his appreciation directly, so take heed!"

The door opened and a person walked forward, clad in the royal clothes and wearing the crown except he wasn't the king "My subjects! Make yourselves comfortable!" Natsu said laughing as the king beside him in his Mato costume was trying to get his crown back.

"Give that back-kabo!" He told Natsu

Everyone else was staring in shock "I'm the king! I became the king!" Natsu shouted before laughing again

"We're doomed…" Lia muttered

"Completely doomed…" Eiran added, Natsu's shock had snapped him out of it

"Aha" Raine said nodding just as shocked

* * *

 **Year x778**

Lia stretched her arms, Laxus walking with hands in his pocket the sound of the music playing obvious, and Eiran holding his stomach in hunger.

"You think Sophia would be at home?" Eiran asked as he imagined her cooking "I would love one of her meals right now."

"We can just eat at the guild." Lia said

"It's not the same" Laxus said agreeing with his friend

"She didn't mention going on a job before we left…but it's still early so she might be at the guild" Lia told them

"So if we headed to your house, worst possibility we end up with your cooking instead." Laxus stated with a grin that earned him a slab to the shoulder and a huff from the orange head.

Eiran didn't pass the chance, even though they already started heading in Lia's house instead of the guild "So it's hunger or food poisoning?" The glare he received was one that would be usually followed at this point by him falling through the ground, and he was glad that was Lia was tired from their job.

"It's not so bad…" She huffed crossing her arms over her chest, she knew it wasn't as good as her mother's but it wasn't bad "You know what, if she's not there, I'm gonna cook enough for just me, I'd like to see you complaining then."

This had the boys frowning; they didn't want to have to walk all the way back to the guild, but Lia was too nice to actually starve them, wasn't she?

"You wouldn't." Eiran was the one to voice their thoughts

Lia huffed, yeah she wouldn't but still…"You're lucky anyway" She told them as they reached the house "Mom's inside." She paused though when she sensed the extra person in the house "And so is Mira."

"Eh? Why would she be here?" Laxus asked

"You think Sophia dragged her to one of her bonding sessions?" Eiran suggested, Sophia did one with every new kid that joined the guild, though Mira had been a member for a few months now, so it was a bit late, they figured she had already did it.

"Maybe." Lia said as she got her key out of her bag and opened the door as quietly as possible, the boys caught in on the sneaking-in plan.

Lia led the way quietly to the kitchen, where she peeked through the doors to look inside followed by the boys each peeking over the other's head.

"She's smiling?!" Laxus and Lia said together, Laxus in hushed surprise while Lia said it in hushed joy.

Mira was inside helping Sophia cook, the latter telling her what to do and they were even exchanging conversation, what surprised them was that Mira was actually smiling, a happy smile, not like the one that she had whenever she messed with someone in the guild or when she teased some of the younger members, but an actual genuine smile, that had the third member of their group blushing.

They retreated, or at least Lia and Laxus did before they forcibly pulled Eiran and headed out of the house.

"Did we just see that?" Laxus questioned "Mira was actually acting like a girl!"

"She'd probably hit you for that comment" Lia snorted as she told him before smiling "But I am glad she's actually smiling, at least she's happy now."

Laxus huffed as he crossed his arms "We're not going inside there, are we?" He already knew the answer as Lia grinned closing the door behind them quietly and causing the blonde to sigh. "At least we won't be getting food poising."

This earned him a slab to the shoulder and a glare from Lia as they started walking away, only to stop when they noticed something missing.

"Eiran?!" Lia questioned as they watched the boy standing in a daze with a blush

"This is the part where you tease her before she makes a hole under you, you know?" Laxus told him but still no reaction.

Lia looked at him closely, the blush on his face, the dazed look, and the sudden quietness, before it clicked.

"Don't tell me?!" Lia muttered as her eyes widened "You like Mira?!" This actually got them a reaction from the boy as he stiffened

Laxus actually started laughing and even Lia had to hold her giggle, as Eiran groaned "It's not…You're…" He spluttered out

"Ok, when did you even start?" Lia asked him

"And it had to be the rough demon?" Laxus asked "Then again all the girls in the guild are demons" This earned him another slab to the shoulder

Eiran just groaned and walked past them, the two quickly on his tow "You can tell us, we won't laugh…" Lia told him

Laxus grinned "…much." He added

"Not talking" Eiran replied "So eat at the guild? I'm starving…" He suggested

Lia and Laxus stopped teasing, they were pretty hungry themselves. So they would let the subject drop…for now. "Sure." Lia said as Laxus shrugged

They started making their way to the guild "You sure we can't head back?"

"No!" Lia and Eiran replied to the blonde instantly.

* * *

 **Year x791**

They eventually managed to get Natsu down and returned the crown to the king with lots of apologizing by Makarov, and the party was in full bloom once again.

Mira wasn't sure what happened one second she was standing with her siblings, but then Lia showed up and gave a look to Lisanna, that wasn't missed by Mira, which had both Lisanna and Lia pushing Elfman towards Evergreen telling him to ask her to dance and actually pushing him all the way to the Thunder tribe, leaving Mira alone.

Well, till Eiran approached her, obviously nervous and tense, he had asked her if they could talk somewhere privately, which was how they ended up in one of the terraces in the palace.

Eiran was scratching the back of his head, the other in his pocket as he avoided Mira's gaze and finding the ground very interesting. "Eiran!" Mira called his attention, he turned to her nervously, but she smiled at him "Breathe!"

He took a deep breath and let it out before he swallowed the lump in his throat; he hand tightened on the small velvet box in his pocket. "M-Mira…" He started nervously before taking a deep breath wondering when breathing became so hard "Look hear me out till the end, okay? I might end up rambling…a lot" Mira still gave him the patient smile and nodded slightly "Remember when you first came to the guild? You were so reserved at first but when you got comfortable you became more…well tough" This had both of them grinning, even Mira giggled, tough was one way to put it "I guess back then I held…I admired you for it…Kinda, you adjusted so quickly, and you were so confident, and that took a lot more of other that I was surprised you did so quickly."

He took another breath "It was just an admiration, but…one day when I came back from a job with Lia and Laxus, we headed to her house and we happened to see you cooking with Sophia" He smiled, as he remembered the memory fondly "And you were smiling…a genuine smile, that when I saw you…all on my mind was…that was the most beautiful smile I've ever seen" Mira blushed but stayed quiet "That was about thirteen years ago…Six if we don't count Tenrou…I knew that moment it wasn't just an admiration anymore…I liked you. But I was a coward and so untrusting of my own feelings…I thought it would just go away. It was some time ago…we both changed a lot since…but…the one thing that haven't change is that your smile…just seeing it makes all my worries disappear…it's still the most beautiful smile I've ever seen." He hesitated before pulling the velvet box.

He opened it, inside was a sapphire tear shaped necklace "And when I see you, all I can think of…is how amazing you are…" He pulled the necklace and put some magic into it, and hologram picture showed of Mira and him smiling as they sat one day at the bar, it was Lia's idea to make this hologram, instead of just a regular necklace; she had even made it herself. "And how when I'm beside you…I feel like..." He quieted down "I'm home." He took a deep breath "Mira, I really like you. Would you…be my girlfriend?" He let it out finally

And his rambling finally caught up with his mind and he felt like groaning, but stayed quiet as he waited for her answer.

Mira smiled at him blushing and caught him off guard was that she had tears in her eyes "Eiran…I really like you…a lot. I am not sure what to say…" She blushed deeper "I don't think I can put a beautiful speech like yours. You're an amazing person…you said you admired me when I admired you…you were always smiling and laughing…when something put you down you were so determined to do something about it instead of just sitting down. I…I would love to be your girlfriend."

Eiran blinked his mouth gaping slightly; he wasn't sure what to say "eh?" He eventually said making Mira giggle.

"I would love to be your girlfriend." She repeated and he blinked again before grinning

"Seriously? I mean…" He said making Mira giggle again, seeing that he couldn't talk without making a joke of himself he stopped and just grinned before realizing he was still holding the necklace "Umm… want me to help you put it on? Or you could just take it in the box?" He suggested

She just held her hair and turned and he quieted as he helped her put the necklace on, when she turned wearing the necklace her grinned, "It's beautiful, thank you!" Mira told him as he thought it really brought out her eyes, his eyes wandered from her eyes to her lips and before he knew it he leaned down and kissed her, Mira was surprised but then she started kissing him back.

Inside the ball room, Lia and Lisanna let out a breath who knew getting Elfman all the way here to ask Evergreen to dance would be so tiring "You two look like you need a break" Bickslow told them

"You have no idea." Lia replied as Lisanna hummed in agreement. "So two down…"

"…And one more to go." Lisanna finished as the two girls grinned and their eyes turned to Freed who froze, more so when Bickslow joined them.

"She might be hoping someone else dance with her." Freed told them immediately blushing his eyes immediately finding the pinkette standing to the side as she watched the people now dancing.

"Freed…" Lia called his attention and he turned to her "Do you like her?"

"I…" He turned to look at her again, he liked her company, for one he can actually speak with her about Runes and book for endless hours and he liked how she was usually shy when it came to anything else, how she got excited about certain things and her eyes would light up or when she spoke about the people she cared about she would have that fond smile "Yes"

This had the three grin at him even Laxus joined them as he gave his friend an encouraging look "Then go ask her to dance" Lisanna told him

Freed swallowed and adjusted his collar before leaving them to go to the girl, "Looks like he did it too" Laxus pointed out as they saw Eiran and Mira join the group of dancers, which almost everyone was a part of. Gray was dancing with Wendy much to Juvia's dismay as she watched them from behind a pillar crying, Venus dance with Eve, Ren with Sherrie, Hibiki with Beth, Lyon with Anise, even Sol had asked Cheria, Erza danced with Kagura, Happy with Carla and other pairs were on the dance floor.

"Shall we join them?" Bickslow said as he put his hand for Lisanna who took it

"I would love to" She replied and he grinned and as he led her to the floor he winked to Laxus, he was now giving him a chance with Lia, even the girls hanging off his arms earlier had gone off in favor of finding someone to dance with.

Lia let out a sigh as she watched them dance with a fond smile, more so Eiran and Mira, if anyone deserved happiness it was those two. "Never thought you'd grow up to be a match maker" Laxus commented as he grinned at her

"It's kinda of fulfilling…besides it's not much of matchmaking as it is pushing two people who like each other but a little dense or too nervous to admit it" Lia replied grinning, her grin didn't falter even though her next words made her chest hurt a bit "Say, do you have someone you like? Or at least want to dance with? I can help you."

She had no idea why it hurt to say those words; she should feeling glad she gets to help friends, shouldn't she?

Laxus frowned thoughtfully, Lia's eyes had drifted to look at the dancing couples, as his eyes sat on her before he grinned "So you'd help, no matter who it was?" He asked her as she nodded "Let's go then."

"Eh?" Was all she got out as he took her hand and pulled her to the dance floor, the next she knew, he pulled her other arm putting it on his shoulder before putting his arm on her waist and he led the dance.

Her blush and obvious shock was enough to make him chuckle and grin at her, they didn't say anything though, Lia looked down and could feel her cheeks heating from the blush she couldn't fight, the pain was gone and was replaced by a very good feeling, one that made her realize what was going on with her, as realization hit her slowly as their dance continued. She liked Laxus Dreyar.

This had made her tense slightly and blush deeper for the extension of the dance, Laxus just grinned at her.

When the tune finally came to an end, and she pulled free, it took her a few seconds to pull herself together. Before either of them could say something, their attention was grabbed by something else.

"Father…" The princess noted as she was confronted by the king and his guards

"Hisui…" The king called

"I deeply apologize for what happened." Hisui apologized bowing "I'm prepared to accept my just punishment as soon as this party is over."

"Please wait." Arcadios said as he walked to the Princess's side "The princess originally implemented the Eclipse Project to annihilate Lord Zeref. Then she moved on to Eclipse Project 2 after being tricked by the future Rogue, believing it would repel the invasion of Fiore by 10,000 dragons."

"In other words, she did it all for the sake of this country." Darton, the minister of defense added as he walked to her other side.

"That's not all!" Lucy said as she walked beside them with Erza "She did her best to protect the future of this world!"

"Yes. The princess is not at fault here." Erza said

"I concur." Jura agreed

"I would make allowances." Ichiya said

Natsu while still eating in the back "I say let it be water under the bridge!" He added "Thanks to her, we wizards came together as one."

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed

Lia and Laxus walked forward joining the group "Yeah, you can say that again." Laxus said

"I doubt anything else would have done it." Lia said

"Ah, if it weren't for an occasion like this, we may never have united." Jura said

This had the princess happy and shocked at their words. "Juvia and Gray also united!" Juvia announced holding to Gray's arm as he objected they weren't.

"I'm grateful for it all, too." Sting said

"Yeah. I feel like I received something valuable." Rogue said

"That's right! The unity within Sabertooth is stronger than before!" Lector added

Even Kagura and the rest of Mermaid Heel joined them "Exactly! And so, I'll render our verdict!" Kagura said "Princess Hisui is innocent! I shall brook no dissent!"

"You'd better not underestimate Kagura!" Risley added as the rest agreed

"At ease, ladies!" Erza told them

"You're only complicating things." Gray told them

"What's that?" Kagura asked him

"You're the ones that are complicating it!" Beth told him

Arcadios had to calm them down as he banged his sword on the ground "You are standing before His Majesty!"

They all started at the king awaiting his verdict "I understand how all of you feel." He told them "However, I must put my foot down." At this everyone started saying they should be the one punished starting with Arcadios and Darton.

"I deem Arcadios's sense of loyalty to Hisui and Darton's loyalty to the nation to both be wonderful." The king started before looking at all of them "And most wonderful of all…is you wizards who love peace throughout this world. Therefore, the punishment for my daughter, Hisui…" They all waited in anticipation only to be shocked when he put a pumpkin mask like Mato's on her head "…is wearing that for one week-kabo!"

The princess herself was too shocked for words "Your Majesty! Then the princess…" Arcadios wondered

"If she wears it for one week…" Darton added

"I'll acquit her! She'll continue to be Princess Hisui, my pride and joy!" The king assured them smiling

"Good for you, princess!" Lucy told her

"Yes…kabo." She replied making them all laugh, and the night continued as they all forget their worries and the curtain finally closed on the games and the dragon battle.

* * *

The next morning after the party, somewhere deep in the woods near Crocus, a cloaked person walked slowly, before that person stumbled and reached out to lean against a tree to stop their self from falling, while breathing hard.

"Damn it…" The person cursed before sitting on the ground leaning against the tree. "I'll need to rest a bit…"

The person's thoughts wandered…to the future he came from…seven years from now.

* * *

 **Year x798**

"What about Ultear?!" Gray yelled at the Orange head setting opposite to him, he was definitely older now, all the present people were; Gray, Lyon, Eiran, Jellal, Mira, Lucy, and Lia.

The group was sitting in what looked to be a large cave, the only light illuminating the area was the bonfire they had in the middle.

"Calm down, Gray!" Lyon told him while everyone was quiet, more so Lia who just had a blank look as she stared at them.

"Calm down?! We have a chance to stop the entire eclipse thing and save Ultear, but…" His glare turned on Lia who didn't react. "…you're being selfish! Using our chance the past just to save yourself!"

"Gray!" Jellal called sharply cutting in when Lia was about to retort "We thought about it, the only way to destroy an Eclipse Gate is through a dragon…"

"And if the gate from seven years ago doesn't get destroyed, the royal family will use it for the original purpose of going back to kill Zeref" Lia continued "And none of us wants that. As much as we hate it…We can't save Ultear…and we can't interfere with the dragon incident back then."

Gray was shaking quietly, "Are you sure there is nothing we can do?" Mira asked them "Maybe we can save Ultear without interfering with the dragons?"

Jellal shook his head "We thought about it over and over…Without the minute Ultear bought back for everyone, we would have many more casualties."

"We know you guys are better at this then us" Eiran spoke up as he looked at Lia and Jellal, the two who had managed to study the Eclipse gate enough to be responsible for the crazy plan they were trying "But maybe in this case…if we all put our heads together we can find some other way."

"I asked old man Crux…but he didn't have any ideas." Lucy said

"But no harm in trying…" Lyon said

Lia got up and started heading in the direction leading deeper into the cave "You guys think it over…meanwhile I'll supply the gate with more magic." No one stopped her as she walked deeper.

"She didn't like the idea of not being able to save Ultear, Gray!" Jellal told him "She tried desperately to find a way to destroy the gate back then, but no friendly power existed at that point in time enough to do the job."

Gray cursed while Mira got up heading in the direction opposite to where Lia went "I will go check on Natsu, Gajeel and Sting." She told them, those three were keeping watch.

* * *

 **Year x791**

There were so few of them at that time, and funny thing Jellal was the one who was supposed to come back, but then…

"Time to get going…" The person muttered getting up and starting to walk again.

Meanwhile in Magnolia, confetti filled the air, decorations hung on the buildings as all the people in Magnolia gathered to welcome the Fairy Tail members.

People including the members of Twilight Ogre cheered for them "Welcome home, Fairy Tail!" The master of Twilight Ogre shouted as the people cheered.

"We're home!" Natsu cheered as he waved for the crowd "We won!"

"We did it!" Happy cheered beside him

The Fairy Tail members walked forward "Look at all these people…" Lucy noted

"Everyone in Magnolia gathered for us…" Raine noted

"It looks like people from areas around Magnolia are here, too." Erza noted

Makarov walked with Asuka on his shoulders "Yay! Victory!"

A person in the crowd called for Mira, when she turned to look at him he was cowering, she turned to Eiran walking beside her who pretended he hadn't glared at the guy.

Behind them was Elfman carrying Lisanna the latter asking to be put down.

"We came a long way from being laughed at." Lia said as she walked with Venus who was grinning before nodding at Lia's words

"I never thought we'd be ever anything but the last place guild again" Venus replied

Gajeel cheered that they were number one while Lily marveled at the gathering of the people.

Wendy was thanking the crowd as Carla told her to stand up straight.

Cana cheered about drinking to celebrate while Laxus told her she should stop drinking so much.

Gray was scowling at first as he thought of the old woman he saw on the road, who he was sure was Ultear, he realized that she was the one that had saved him.

As they kept walking, some cheers were directed at the members who were in the games themselves.

They stopped though when Natsu started searching in his bag to find the trophy "I'll show you guys somethin' cool." He said before pulling the King's crown instead of the trophy, making the members blank and stare in horror, Natsu put it back and started looking again "Not this…Proof of our victory! The King's cup!" He pulled the trophy, as the members who were in the guild for the last seven years cried happily.

Twilight Ogre's master called their attention "The mayor of Magnolia would like to present you with a token of our appreciation!" He told them

"Fairy Tail members, this way, please." The mayor told them pointing towards a building that had them staring wide eyed "Fair Tail is the pride of our town. And so, we wanted to restore the guild's headquarters." They were all over their shock as they stared happily at their home.

"Our old Guild hall is back!" Natsu cheered

"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered

Makarov was reduced to tears "I love this town!" He shouted as the cheers grew louder.

* * *

 **Early update, yay! :D  
**

 **So, if you haven't noticed I suck at writing romance related scenes XD but I hope this one came out good, I kept rewriting it so many times XD**

 **And so officially the arc is over :D And even a look into the future, and who do you think is mystery person from the future? ;)  
**

 **There was more I wanted to write in the author note but I forgot, I wonder why I never write it down, when it comes to me XD**

 **Would love to see how you found this chapter :D**


	41. Secret no more

**I am back! sorry it took so long to update, College have been demanding and still is but I couldn't not update today since it marks a year since I started this fic! :D and somehow it's word count is larger than my naruto fic which took three years XD**

 **This chapter is real short since I wrote it between everything that I am doing, I was hoping to include more stuff but time isn't on my side XD which is kinda why I didn't come up with a better name for the chapter XD but I hope you like it :D I don't know when I'll be able to update again but I will try to as soon as I can!**

 **Hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

"Where are they?" Lia wondered out loud as she closed the lid of yet another box that didn't have what she was looking for.

At this point she was getting frustrated, it was the day after they had gotten back from Crocus, and since this morning, she had been down in the storage room at the back of the library at her house, it was a small room cramped with boxes and some hidden tiles in the wall, one of which where the photo albums were once hidden.

She was looking for the boxes that had her mother's stuff; she hoped she could find some information about her father…about Eptá Amartíes… anything that could prove useful.

She knew her mother good enough to know that she probably had an idea about what was going on, and that she probably kept it a secret so no one would get dragged into it…not that it worked.

She huffed as she closed another box "Since when did we have so much stuff?" She muttered to herself crossing her arms, as she walked to another stack of boxes sighing.

She reached for one of the boxes "What are you doing?" someone asked from behind her startling her and causing her to hit the stack of boxes, as they started tilting towards the ground, she teleported out of their way before they could bury her, and stood beside Laxus as they watched the boxes fall with everything in them to the ground.

Lia groaned and face palmed "Damn it!" She cursed as Laxus just raised an eyebrow at her before frowning "Wait a second, how did you even get in here?"

She turned to Laxus ignoring the mess she'd have to clean up "Venus gave me the key" He replied "Gramps wanted you to come to the guild, when Venus told him that you were holed up down here, and he made me come and get you…" he answered grumbly

"Eiran couldn't come?" She asked

"He was busy apparently…" Laxus answered grumbly

Lia hummed in understanding as she looked away, she might have been at fault for him being grumpy, since she had been actively avoiding him ever since their dance at the ball.

She was confused about how she felt about Laxus, so decided to push it to the back of her mind, not that her mind agreed, and bought it up every time Laxus was around, hence the fact she avoided him.

"So, what were you doing?" He asked again

She bit her lib before sighing, she walked forward and started to gather the stuff on the ground "Looking for Mom's stuff" She mumbled but he still heard her "Maybe she had anything about _him_ "

He didn't need her to clarify; he doubted she would say 'him' with so much venom in her voice other than about her father.

"Why don't you just ask Gramps?" Laxus asked her

"Because…" She stopped gathering and stood up while frowning, she wanted to know what her mother thought of him…"just because" she answered

Laxus's eyebrows furrowed as she continued "because…" there was another reason "if Gramps knew…" She continued "if he knew he was a bad person now, he'd have made the connection about Eptá and him"

"You're just assuming" Laxus told her as she shook her head

"Maybe, I just have feeling mom kept it all to herself" Lia replied sighing "You said Gramps wanted me at the guild, right? Let's go then!" She led the way through the library, she noticed the amused look on Laxus's face for whatever reason, but he didn't tell her till they were at the house's door.

"Lia…" He called stopping her and she turned to him as he was just smirking amused at her "…you're gonna go to the guild in your pajamas?"

"Eh?" She said before looking down at her clothes and blushed as she realized she was still in her pajama's pants and the sleeveless tank top "I'll…I'll be right back!" Before she left to change she remembered something else "I almost forget…" She held her hands forward and requipped something "Here you go!"

Laxus was surprised when she handed him his coat, fixed from the fight with Jura and the dragon after.

"I took it and fixed it when we got back yesterday" She told him, he had thrown it away after fighting the dragon since it was too torn, he hasn't even realized she took it to fix it.

"Thanks" He told her before wearing it.

"Anytime." She told him before teleporting upstairs to get changed herself, she stared at the mirror "How didn't I notice I was a mess?" She wondered blushing, her hair was in messy bun along with her sleeping clothes.

She remembered washing her face…before running straight down stairs.

As if on cue, her stomach grumbled in hunger, reminding she hadn't eaten since morning…or last night…did she even have dinner last night?

At the guild, Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Gray, Carla and Happy entered the guild, all of them looked exhausted, before they sat on a table, Lucy hiding her face in the table.

"You guys look exhausted." Venus noted bluntly

"Lu, are you okay?" Levy asked from beside Venus

"I hate moles." Came Lucy's muffled reply

"Your job didn't go well?" Levy asked

"And I thought you guys were on separate jobs…" Venus noted

"We ran into them on the way back from ours and thought we would help." Gray explained

"Who thought we'd have more trouble with a mole than dealing with bandits." Carla added

"He was still no match for us!" Natsu grinned

Happy covered his mouth laughing "and the mole wanted to marry Lucy."

"Shut it!" Lucy told him annoyed

"It was quite moving that he got his happy ending though." Erza added

"And thankfully the villagers let us take a bath after all the mud that we ended up in" Wendy said

Mira walked towards them "Erza, you're back! Master wants us in his office" She told the red head, who raised an eyebrow in question but Mira didn't clarify.

"Alright, let's go!" She nodded standing up as she and Mira walked away.

"Wonder what master wants Erza for…" Lucy said

"Eiran is there too, they've been talking since morning along with Mira" Venus told them

Lia and Laxus entered the guild hall; Lia was wearing a light brown sleeveless, turtle neck, keyhole top, with long light brown fingerless gloves, over dark brown pants with the ends over light brown shoes. Her hair down with her bangs swept to the side like always.

Both didn't stop heading straight upstairs for Makarov's office, but the grim look on their faces wasn't missed by the guild members.

"That's weird…" Gray said

"Wonder if something serious happened…" Wendy said

"Eh, Natsu?!" Lucy called as she noticed the pinkette sneaking upstairs "What are you gonna do?!"

"Listen in!" He answered with a grin

"You've got the right idea, Natsu!" Venus was beside him along with Gray

"Sometimes you got some good ideas flame brain!" Gray told him

Lucy, Wendy and Carla followed while Levy went back to where Gajeel and the others were "should you really do this?" Wendy asked

"Don't do like them!" Carla instructed her but face palmed when she noticed Wendy already following suit.

"Eh? You guys are already listening!" Natsu said as they reached Makarov's office, and at the door were the thunder tribe.

They hushed him and continued to listen, and Natsu and the others deemed listening more important as they joined them at the door.

Inside the office, "Master?" Erza called wondering, the old man sat on his desk cross legged, Mira stood beside Erza facing the desk, Eiran was standing next to the desk.

Lia retreated to lean beside the window overviewing the front of the guild, not meeting anyone's eyes. Laxus had leaned on the wall beside her.

"Erza whatever you hear, I ask that you don't act rash, same for you Mira." Makarov told them, confusing Mira, from what Eiran had told her was that Epta was after Lia, she had concluded as much after the dragon attack, was there something else that would drive them to act rash? "A dark guild threatens one of our family…Eptá Amartíes is after Lia"

Erza gapped slightly and turned to look at the orange head, who other than crossing her arms over her chest didn't move.

"They were the ones behind the four years she was missing, we're still not sure why they're after her though" Makarov continued before he paused, thinking of his next words

"also, they're the ones we believe…to have killed Sophia…" Makarov told them and the room was silent and tense, and it was almost as the room's temperature dropped.

Mira was looking at the ground unbelieving, while Erza shook in anger. The reaction came from outside though "WHAT?!" Natsu's yell came clearly though the closed door

Makarov sighed while Erza stomped and opened the door to Lucy and Gray covering Natsu's mouth, a little late, to hide the fact they were listening in.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Erza asked the group of mages but Natsu just shook Lucy and Gray and stomped inside past Erza.

"Gramps, is it true?" Natsu asked as he clenched his fists

The rest, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Happy, Venus, Freed, Bickslow, Evergreen, even Levy, Juvia and Gajeel, who had joined the group, followed inside.

"As far as we can tell…yes." Makarov answered

"Does it have anything to do with the warning that person gave us before the dragon invasion?" Gajeel asked making the ones who weren't in the games that night confused.

"It does…but we forgot to tell them about that person." Lia said speaking up but her eyes stayed focused on the streets outside from the window.

"Another person from the future?" Lucy wondered "What did they say?"

"That I shouldn't wander off on my own when the fighting started" Lia told her "He didn't tell us about the dragons, just that there was going to be fighting and that we had to keep fighting and it'll pass and that I shouldn't wander off on my own."

"Considering that Eptá Amartíes came for her in the middle of the fight would explain the warning" Erza added

"Umm…who was it that warned you?" Venus asked

"A future Eiran." Gray answered and almost everyone turned to look at Eiran who furrowed his eyebrows. "He didn't explain anything though…said he'd find us later to explain."

"But that's not possible, right?" Mira wondered

"That's true…destroying the gate should have sent everyone back to their time" Freed said.

Lia turned her eyes to her feet "Not necessarily…" She said "there's one scenario where he wouldn't have been sent back…if he hadn't used the same gate that was destroyed."

"So you're saying if they build their own gate?" Laxus asked and she nodded

"The only reason that future Rogue was sent back was because he used the same gate we destroyed but seven years in the future…and with him having no way to get back, the dragons were sent back because he's the one behind the Eclipse two plan." Lia explained "But if future Eiran used another gate in the future to come back through the gate we destroyed…it'd just mean he has no way to get back to his time"

Bickslow scratched his head "That's pretty complicated"

"Hmm…then we'll just keep an eye out for this future Eiran" Makarov told them

"Gramps! We can't just gonna let them be!" Natsu yelled "They're the ones that killed Sophia!"

"There's not much we can do…We have no idea where they're hiding" Makarov replied

"But…" Natsu started again

"Shut it, flame brain!" Gray yelled

"Natsu…" Lucy called before she looked at Lia, who was completely quiet and was back to staring through the window.

"There's still one more thing." Lia started and they could hear the venom in her voice, even if she hadn't turned to face them. "It's probably the reason they managed to…kill mom in the first place…The guild master is apparently my father."

That caused all of those who didn't know to stare in shock at Lia.

"Gramps…did you know him?" Laxus asked instead of Lia who had her arms crossed and clutched her arm a little tighter at the question.

Makarov nodded grimily, wondering why he never connected the dots "He was a member of Fairy Tail way back when…His name was Liam Sharpe" He told them, and Lia scowled…her mother had named her after her father. "He and Sophia got married two years after he joined and decided to retire as mages, they moved out of Magnolia…a few months after, Sophia came back in the middle of the night pregnant with Lia and by herself…she wouldn't tell me what happened…or anybody else as far as I know" He closed his eyes "Though it would explain why she took interest in investigating dark wizards and dark guilds."

"How…How strong was he?" Lia asked

"S rank…though he didn't compare to Sophia" Makarov asked as Lia closed her eyes, her fingers tightening around her arm, she had figured that it wasn't power that beat her mother…but still…

"I see" She replied quietly before she started to walk towards the office door "Excuse me"

They watched her as she left, Natsu stomped angrily "We can't just leave it like this!"

"We're not" Makarov answered

Eiran nodded "I'm leaving to gather information about them" He told Natsu "The last thing we're gonna do about this is let it be"

Natsu slammed his fists together "Then we're gonna make him pay!"

"You better hurry before flame brain burns _our_ guild instead" Gray said just as Natsu turned to him annoyed, and the fight between the two was what everyone needed to break the tension, even as they froze under Erza's glare.

Lia had slipped past the busy guild hall and down to the guild's library, she was just staring at the book's titles, as she thought about everything, she had not wanted to tell the guild about everything that was going on…she didn't want them to get involved in her mess…she already lost too much because of that guild.

"What am I gonna do?" Lia muttered

"Trust your friends" A voice said starling Lia, she looked to find Mavis beside her "And Trust you'll get through this together"

Lia looked down quiet "You'll get through this by working together" Mavis assured her smiling "You just do the best you can to support them"

Lia shook her head and managed a smile "So you're gonna teach me _that_ spell?" Lia asked

Mavis looked thoughtful "Maybe not yet" She answered as Lia sighed expecting that answer

* * *

"Say…" Lia started as she stood in her house looking into her living room shocked "Not to be rude or anything but what are you all doing here?"

She had headed home a little while after talking to Mavis, but she didn't expect to find these group in her house with what looked like fashion magazines littering her floor, most pictures the girls were focused on were the ones with swim suits.

"Master told everyone to take the day off tomorrow" Venus told her as she leaned on her elbows while lying on the ground.

"We're throwing a pool party" Evergreen told her, she was lying on the sofa holding another magazine "So we thought we'd get some ideas for you to make"

Juvia was in front of Lia before she grabbed Lia "Help Juvia impress Gray, please!" Juvia pleaded, before turning to glare at Lucy. "And beat my Love Rival!"

"There's nothing between me and Gray!" Lucy shouted

"eh…sure?" Lia answered hesitantly

"the food's ready!" Mira announced as she, Raine and Lisanna didn't know moved from the kitchen.

"Oh, Lia…you're back" Raine noted

"We thought we would have to send someone to get you from the guild" Lisanna told her

Cana joined them along with Erza and Levy, the three coming from downstairs, Lia groaned when she saw the albums they carried, while Levy had grabbed herself a book.

"And we found the sleeping bags…" Bisca said coming from upstairs Laki, Kinana and even Asuka all carrying rolled up sleeping bags.

"Everyone decided to have a sleepover here" Carla informed the stunned Lia

"It's pretty exciting though sorry for intruding" Wendy apologized

"It's not a problem, Wendy" Lia replied, honestly she was used to this from when her mom was alive, back then all the kids in the guild would come and go "I'm stunned for an entirely different reasons" She smiled "For good reasons" She was happy, her family even if right now the female portion of the family, was there for her despite what they just found…maybe especially because of what they just found out.

Lia grabbed one of the magazines "Okay let me see what we have here!"

She was worried, scared and angry but for now, everything was okay, and she was going to enjoy it and when worse comes to shove she'd be ready.


	42. Parties and Punishments

The next day came with the said party…

"You do realize a pool party means relaxing and playing around, right?" Eiran asked the orange head who sat on a pool chair, wearing a bikini but instead was going through a note book.

"I am relaxing" She retorted making him snort

"Reading Sophia's journal isn't relaxing, Lia…actually it's a bit creepy" He told her as she blushed looking away, he had caught her despite the fact she changed the cover so it wouldn't be obvious, she had found her mother's stuff after all, though she would deny staying up late to find the said stuff, after most of the girls had gone to sleep. After spending the day together, her spirit was renewed and she was more adamant to deal with the entire thing.

Eiran had recognized the thing by the neat hand writing he recognized belonged to Sophia, he was guessing about it being Sophia's journal but it looked like he was right.

"Shut up!" She told him huffing "Go spent time with your girlfriend or something!"

He narrowed his eyes at her, while blushing a little; the two didn't even turn to Natsu's and Lucy's loud shouts in the background.

In the pool everybody got out of the way when Natsu grabbed Lucy and pulled them both into the pool, the later shouting at him to stop it.

"Knock it off you two!" Raine told Lisanna and Venus as she shielded herself while they splashed water on her, ganging up on her.

"Never!" They sang together and Venus's eyes glinted as she made a violin

"Let's have fun shall we?!" Venus asked them making even Lisanna sweat drop in worry.

Seeing the scene, Lia closes the journal and reequipped it away. "I will be waiting for my payment Eiran!" Lia grinned at the said mage

They had betted on who would end the party when they decide to use their magic, Eiran betted on Natsu guessing that Natsu would get into a fight with Gray as usual, while, to his surprise, Lia betted that Venus would be the one, he thought she might bet on Gray.

Lia though knew better, she had spent three months training with Venus and they lived together, and she knew when it came to Venus, it didn't need a fight for her to resort to magic, just get excited.

Just on point a large wave carrying most of the members who were in the pool was heading straight for them.

On point Gray froze the said wave, "Watch where you're aiming!" Gray yelled

Steam sizzled from the ice as Natsu started melting the ice that trapped him before jumping at Gray with a flaming punch "Who the hell do you think you're freezing, popsicle?"

And such the fight started between the two and pulling lots of the others into it. "You know I hear there was a pretty good bazaar in Iris town" Lia told Eiran winking "Why don't you take Mira there?"

"Bazaar, you say?" Lily asked as he flew towards them being one of the ones avoiding the fight, even Wendy carried by Carla out of the fray to their side where Eiran had actually set up a crystal wall to protect them.

"Yeah, I actually wanted to visit it before the games but Iris is where Sabertooth's guildhall is, I think it's probably okay to visit now" Lia told them "And it's an hour away by train, so you and Gajeel can make it safely" Lia told Lily feeling sorry for Gajeel

Wendy awed before looking at Carla "What do you think Carla?"

"Well it's at least safer than here" Carla stated as she looked back to see that between Natsu, Gray, Venus, Gajeel, Erza and Juvia (who was mostly throwing spells at whoever dared aim at her beloved Gray) the rest of the guild were getting knocked left and right, while others like the thunder tribe, Laxus, Makarov and Mira were managing to avoid the fight.

"Knock it off you fools!" Makarov finally yelled at the group turning to a giant and breaking the fight with one hand slamming down on Natsu and Gray.

"Somethings never change." Lia said smiling at the scene

Eiran snorted "Don't think it ever will" He crossed his arms

Lia grinned at him "One thing will…" She started pushing him "You ask a Mira on a date there"

"I think you're gladder than both Mira and I that we're together" Eiran muttered

"Of course, I am" Lia replied grinning, she was happy for them and if it got Eiran off her back than that was an added bonus, she loved him as a brother, but she didn't like the overprotective that was always present before the brother part.

Of course it wasn't like he didn't know what she was thinking, which was how she ended up being the only one in the guild hall not going to the said bazaar…almost the only one…Kinana and Makarov were still here along with Laxus, Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow.

Not that any of them dared approach her now while she was fuming about the fact she couldn't go.

Technically she had been told by Makarov she could go if an S rank went with her, but Erza had already left at that point, Mira and Eiran were on a date, that left Laxus which would put a dent on her plan to avoid him for now.

Which meant she was sitting in the empty guild reading through her mother's journal with a glare that could have quite possibly set the notebook on fire.

She knew it when someone sat opposite to her but stayed focused on what she was reading. "Really, Lia?" Evergreen asked her "you know you could ask Laxus, instead of just staying mad."

"I am not mad" Lia replied

"And you're not avoiding Laxus either, right?" Evergreen stated dryly

Lia shifted awkwardly but didn't reply, they might have been speaking quietly and none of the others would hear them but Laxus would, given his dragon slayers senses.

"I'm no-" Lia started but was interrupted by Evergreen.

"Maybe no one else noticed but we spend the most time with Laxus" She told her "We can see you avoiding him, even when you think you're being subtle. So, what are you really up to?"

Evergreen didn't think it was related to what they were told about yesterday; no this had started after the ball.

"I…" Lia hesitated "I just need some time to think" she huffed she had partly wanted to go to that bazaar to do just that away from anything and anyone familiar.

"Lia" Kinana called as she approached them holding a package "This just came for you"

"for me?" Lia questioned as she took the said package and expected the tag on it "it's from Rufus." She read before realization hit her "oh, I forgot about this"

"Why is he sending you mail?" Evergreen asked as she stole a glance at Laxus and by the look on his face he was as curios and maybe even a bit angry.

"We made a bet before the final game." Lia explained as she tore open the package "And Fairy Tail won, so…aha!"

She picked up one of the two books inside and grinned at it "I knew he'd have a copy!"

The book was large, black leather for cover and you could tell easily the almost yellow color of its paper, the language on the cover was made of a language that was wouldn't be usually recognized.

Lia stared for a few moments at the title "The secrets to Enchantment" She read after she translated them, she didn't know many ancient languages – at least not as much as Levy – but luckily this one she wouldn't need help translating.

She put the book down and picked the other one in the package "We agreed on only one though." She muttered to herself mostly, this one wasn't as large, but it looked older with the frail brown cover, and it had no title on it.

"There's a note!" Evergreen said as she picked up the piece of paper – bringing Lia back to the fact she wasn't sitting alone here – and started reading it before giving Lia a sly look "If I didn't know any better, I would say this guy likes you."

Lia blushed "Good you know better then" she took the letter from her.

 _Dear Lia,_

 _Hope you doing well. Things have been going in better direction here at Sabertooth, Sting is now our new master. Aside from the pleasantries, I believe I owed you a book from our bet, and you were right I did have that particular book. The other one I sent is a bonus, if you could read a book as old as the other one then I am sure you'd appreciate this one, not many would. If you do find any difficulty with it, I wouldn't mind meeting to talk about it._

 _Love,_

 _Rufus_

If Lia was blushing before she was now definitely red with the look Evergreen was giving her, more so since she was sure she felt the glare on her back, and why did he have to sign it with _love_?!

"I – It's just books" Lia stammered as she looked to Evergreen. "It's because of just our bet!"

"Oho" She was holding her fan to cover her mouth and she looked over Lia's shoulder "I am sure some people aren't going to see it like that

"It's nothing!" Lia insisted

"Then come sit with us." Evergreen said and Lia froze

"I'm reading!" She excused but the unimpressed look on Evergreen's face was enough to know she wasn't getting anywhere with this. "You're not gonna leave it, are you?"

"Laxus is sulking too." Evergreen told her, Laxus behind scoffed "Freed and Bickslow were too scared to come talk to you when you were fuming" this did seem to annoy Evergreen, which Lia attributed to that she probably was forced to come talk to her "So you're gonna come talk to Laxus and get this thing over with!"

She knew she was being stubborn, and Laxus did nothing wrong for her to ignore him. _Why did she have to fall for the man who had been her childhood friend?_ She thought miserably _When had it even start?_

"fine" She said quietly before sighing "I was acting stupid. Just need to get over it." She mumbled but Evergreen didn't hear her. She gathered her books and stood up with Evergreen as they moved to the other table.

"So why did you guys not go to the Bazaar with everyone else?" Lia started once they were seated,

"Well someone was more interested in the merchandise around here." Grinned Bickslow despite the glare from Laxus, and it looked like Evergreen was barely holding back her laughter, Lia had noticed Laxus's glare, she supposed Laxus could be interested in Kinana…even if it hurt a bit.

"So, what was that package?" Freed promoted as a change of subject before Laxus decided to electrocute Bickslow.

"I won a bet with Rufus, these-" She picked up the two books "-are my winnings. Speaking of bets." She turned to Makarov who was sitting on the bar "Gramps, what about the bet between team A and team B?"

"Hmm…" He was thoughtful

"But the teams combined, didn't that cancel it?" Freed wondered

"But by all accounts, team B had more points before they combined, it should be their win." Evergreen promoted.

"We'll settle it tomorrow morning at dawn" Makarov promoted "I know the perfect way!"

"This should be fun!" Bickslow said before grinning

"Torture for the losing side though" Lia added chuckling, she knew it will be fun for almost everyone else in the guild. "What do you think Laxus?"

He huffed looking at her "I have an idea or two." he was grinning now making Lia sweat drop

"Just don't get anyone killed" Lia told him

"Do you have plans yourself? You were the one asking about it." Laxus told her

She shrugged "I just want Wendy, but the others stick to her so much, I wouldn't be able to get a private moment. Speaking off…" She pulled a pile of papers from her bag along with her Gale force reading Glasses, and a bottle of ink which she spilled all over the papers. "I need to copy this."

She pulled The secrets to Enchantment book and started reading it with her Gale force reading Glasses, with her another hand over the ink covered paper.

As she started reading through the book, her magic started transfring the ink to form the words she was reading and flipping through the papers.

"Can't this wait?" Evergreen was irritated, making Lia stop and look at her.

"If we're doing this at dawn, I'll need to get it finished" Lia explained "Beside I need to translate it while reading, even with the glasses, it'll take some time."

"Leave it, Ever." Laxus told her "Once she gets started, there's no stopping her."

"I know, I know, but still…" Evergreen said, but was irritated Lia had already started on the copying again.

Laxus just stared at her, wondering why the hell had she been actually avoiding him and then was just talking to him all of a sudden, he had heard her conversation with Evergreen, so what was it she needed to get over?

* * *

Come Dawn of the next day, the guild had been informed the night before of what to take place today, Eiran had cursed his luck, since he had to leave and couldn't postpone going after information on Eptá anymore, so he had left a few minutes before. Right now inside the guild hall the members of the two teams were facing, after Makarov had told them how they were going to settle things.

"Time to resolve things between teams A and B from the Grand Magic Games!" Makarov announced "The team that loses has to obey the winning team for the whole day, regardless of what they request."

Laxus cracked his knuckles "We cannot lose."

"Be sure to win, thunderbolt!" Gajeel snapped

"I'm sorry, but we will win." Erza replied

"Finis him, Erza!" Natsu cheered

"Who knows what will happen if we lose…" Lucy said

Laxus and Erza both stepped forward, raise their hands before they settled it, Laxus had his fist closed for Rock, while Erza had two fingers raised for scissor, which concluded it as Laxus's win much to Erza's and the rest of team A.

"Team B wins!" Makarov announced

"Yes!" Laxus cheered

"Should've picked someone else" Lia grinned as the rest of team B grinned too while Juvia was shaking with happiness.

Lily grinned at his fellow exceed "You too!" He told them "The exceeds must assume the same punishment as their partner!" which shocked the two.

"Laxus since you won this for us, you should have the honors" Mira told the blonde who grinned pulled a chair and crossed his legs

"I know what I am gonna make them do first." He pulled a piece of paper "Go through this forest and bring me a magic stone."

"A magic stone?" Wendy questioned as she and the rest of her team stared at the map.

"The name of the forest is: 'The Gates of Hell'" He told them "You have until the end of the competition."

"That's impossible!" Happy said but Laxus ignored him

"Elfman, you stay!" Laxus commanded

"Why just me?" Elfman asked

"For now, massage my back." Laxus told him much to his annoyance

As the team A left with the map, and Elfman started massaging Laxus's back the rest of them sat down.

"What kind of stone is it?" Lia asked

"Just a stone for a Jacuzzi" Laxus shrugged

"What about the forest?" Juvia asked

"It's not really dangerous." Mira told her

Lia nodded "It's just regular animals, they could handle that much, it's the leeches in the swaps they'll need to watch out for, they're annoying and larger than normal."

"So it's not a humiliating or even a dangerous task?!" Gajeel questioned "You just wasted precious time!"

"If one thing, they're sure to smell from the swamps." Lia added "But I am confused about what your plan is?"

"That's part two" Laxus smirked before Laxus could explain Cana approached them holding a bottle in her hand as usual

"Which of you plans on enslaving Wendy?" She asked straight to the point

"I am, why?" Lia asked but was instantly pulled by Cana away

"I will have her back before the other lot is back." Cana stated

"Can you at least tell me what you want?" Lia wondered

Cana stopped pulling her once they were outside the guild hall "It's simple really, I want you to give me Wendy for the day."

Lia crossed her arms "And you want Wendy because…"

"I told the kids at the orphanage about her yesterday, and since they all followed the games they want to meet her" Cana shrugged as it was nothing "besides the kid needs to be around people her age more"

Lia smiled at Cana, she might have looked like she didn't care about a lot of things but Cana always watched out for her guild mates "Fine."

"Hope I didn't ruin any torture plans." Cana grinned

"My plans can take place some other time" Lia replied "Just bring her back in one piece"

* * *

"This is the best" Gajeel said from the tub they were all but Juvia sitting in, in their swimsuits.

Laxus's plan as it turned out was for them to get a stone that would turn water in a tub into a Jacuzzi

"Looks like they were able to do it, it was just a stone after all." Laxus told them "From now things are going to get serious."

"Serious? Wasn't the stone enough?" Natsu questioned

"The day's not over yet!" Laxus noted "I'll take the duo of Elfman and Natsu!" This pissed off Natsu while Elfman looked down

Juvia choose Gray who looked sick. While Mira chose Erza and Gajeel chose Lucy.

"That leaves Wendy for me." Lia said as the said girl looked relieved before Lia clapped "Upon a special request though, my only order for you is to do whatever Cana asks of you!"

Cana appeared behind Wendy creepily making the girl shudder and scream in fright.

"B-B-u-ut th-th-a-at can-n't be allo-o-wed" Wendy stuttered

Cana smirked at the girl "We already checked with Master and he says it is" The girl let out a whimper and Lia held back laughter, Wendy was going to be surprised when she finds out what Cana _actually_ had planned.

Cana dragged Wendy as Mira took Erza and Gajeel dragged Lucy to the stage that was set up outside, Juvia and Gray had disappeared before they even realized.

At the same time the thunder tribe had now joined Laxus and Lia in the Jacuzzi, Laxus turned to Natsu and Elfman who were standing there, the prior fuming when he saw the Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow join them.

"Go buy a loaf of bread." Laxus ordered turning to the two "You got 5 minutes!"

Despite fuming the two took off running. "A loaf of bread?" Bickslow questioned

"You're surprisingly going easy on them." Lia noted but Laxus smirked

"Not if they get the right kind"

Five minutes later the two were back and fell to the ground after handing Laxus the piece of bread.

"I didn't want this kind of bread!" Laxus told them smirking "Ecuche opened a new site in the city. They say that their bread is delicious, that's the kind I want!"

"Why not say that from the beginning?!" Natsu and Elfman yelled at him before they took off running

"You're really evil." Lia told him as Evergreen nodded

"They'll be completely ruined by the end of the day." Evergreen added as Freed was muttering

"Somehow, I feel sorry for them, in many ways." Bickslow said

They had all heard of Ecuche and its original way for their customers to get their bread and milk, no other shop had a roller coaster and a Tea cup. Elfman would be too large for the roller coaster which means he'd have to deal with the Tea cup and he would most likely break the small cubs holding the milk. Natsu would go sick if he rides either.

"Lia, just don't cast that enchantment of yours on Natsu when he comes back" Laxus told her.

"Alright" She shrugged, she would be taking the day to relax and forget about everything before returning to her research tomorrow with renewed vigor. She got out of the Jacuzzi but was stopped before she could walk away.

"Where are you going?" Laxus asked her

"The pool. It probably the best place to relax today." She told him as on queue a loud cheer comes from outside the guild "Quietly."

She waved at them and headed to the pool where she lied down on one of the pool seats, closed her eyes and tried to empty her head, till she ended up falling asleep before she even realized it.

Outside in the hall, "She's not avoiding you again." Evergreen told the grumpy Lightning Dragon Slayer "You two really are idiots."

Laxus just huffed "I wasn't thinking about her…"

The three people with him snorted "I heard her talking to Eiran before he left, he made her promise to try and relax a bit" Bickslow assured him

"Apparently, according to Venus, she's been ending up falling asleep in the library for the past couple of days, and usually near dawn." Evergreen told Laxus making him frown

"We should probably take her on a job tomorrow" Freed suggested "It would keep her busy"

Laxus got out, "I am going to get a drink" He mumbled but they could see him as he clearly headed for the pool.

Laxus wasn't sure how to feel about liking Lia, he had been with women before, but somehow he never imagined liking the girl he grew up with, and he wasn't sure how to react now with what she was doing to herself…and him when she avoided him.

He wasn't used to coddling her, they had both grew up as sick kids, way back when, and they had made a pact back then, they'd never hold each other back, and he still remembered that one time he broke it and how it and how it nearly ended for the both of them and Eiran, but she was killing herself like this.

When he entered the pool his eyes immediately fell on her sleeping figure, she was definitely more tired the she let on.

He took a seat on the pool seat beside her, and just stared at her. He knew keeping her busy with jobs wouldn't work, she'd probably pull more effort to stay awake and do what research she was doing.

The only way was to get rid of that guild…he just hopped Eiran would find anything useful for them to go on.

* * *

Somewhere far away from Magnolia, inside a cave was a cloaked figure, the person held a torch as they walked inside the quiet cave before they reached the end.

"Tch…it's gone." The person grumbled in what clearly was a woman's voice.

"It's going to settle soon and it has to be close by." A muscled man said as he appeared out of air beside her, he had golden locks gathered in a short ponytail, yellow eyes and was wearing an armor. "The connection it's…breaking."

"Like fourteen years ago?" The woman questioned confused

"Even more…last time it restored itself at this point…this time…it seems to be worse" He told her "It will have to settle with a connection like this it won't be able to handle the moving. It might even end up settling for a few days after the connection restores."

"Hmmm…" The woman mused "Well we better get a move on, if we are to find it before the connection restores."

"Not even gonna think about restoring the connection?" The man asked bemused "It will end up affecting your world after all."

She snorted "It's like you don't know me. It's not my problem" She turned and started walking out of the cave "besides I know my student is capable of handling it."

"You'd think the possibility that one world would end before your follow would get you more motivated."

She shrugged "I never said I was a good person."

"You really trust she could handle it?" He asked as he walked beside her

"Her and that guild…I did catch a bit from the GMG and I have to say they have all the magic they need…"

"And all the magic you need." He added

"Exactly, which is why I know I will find them still alive after I find the location." She told him

"If you say so" He finished before he disappeared.

* * *

 **AN: I am back! I am so sorry for the long wait and that this chapter is basically just a filler with a small hint at the end at one of the arcs to come in the future, I just really hope you like it! I can't promise regular updates but I am determined to see this story through so the updates are going to keep on coming as soon as they're written!**


	43. The Repelling Spirits

**I'm Back! This arc is mostly done but I still need to edit the rest of it but at least there will be one or two more updates close to each other! With out further ado enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"This was weird" Lia commented as she stood with Laxus, Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed. They were in a small town on a job.

"Ah" Freed agreed "It's not usually a place you'd find this many Salamanders."

They had just finished the job that requested to get rid of a couple of Salamanders that were terrorizing the small town, and burning the nearby forests…they had instead found an entire pack.

Salamanders usually lived in mountains and more preferably near volcanos, there was the usual stray that would wander off and be found away from such an environment, but you'd never find a pack of them in a town that didn't have a single mountain nearby. They were staring at the said pack, now defeated and piled over each other, of around fifteen Salamander.

"Well job done anyway." Evergreen said shrugging "Let's just take our reward money and head back"

"We should probably report the incident to master." Freed noted

"Lighten up you two, they probably got bored and decided to wander" Bickslow told them as they walked towards the mayor's office.

"Bored! Bored!" His dolls repeated after him

"We should report it" Laxus agreed causing Freed to brighten up "Just to be careful."

Lia and Laxus stopped suddenly "What's wrong you two?" Evergreen asked before they noticed the dark clouds rolling in in the sky.

"What's the…?" Freed stared confused, storms didn't usually come out of the blue like this.

"It's magic." Laxus noted as Lia nodded

"And really strong too, but I can't pinpoint a source." She told them "It's everywhere."

"Weird sign number two." Freed noted before turning to Evergreen and Bickslow "You were saying…"

After getting their award money they managed to head back to a sunny Magnolia and headed straight to the guild.

"Where's everyone?" Freed wondered before they heard a cheer from downstairs, almost everyone was downstairs sans Makarov who was sitting on the bar and Mira who was managing the bar.

"Welcome back, how was your job?" Mira asked them

"Hey Mira." Lia greeted "It was okay I guess."

"Lia, Freed and Laxus are taking things a bit too serious." Evergreen told her

"You can't say those were normal." Freed told her frowning "Dealing with a pack of Salamanders after the request said there was just a couple and that storm…Laxus and Lia both could sense it was magical."

"Hmm…it's not the first incident reported. Apparently some weird weather and environmental activities has been happening about random places." Makarov told them "You said you sensed magic, right? Did you find the source?"

"No." Laxus answered as Lia shook her head

"Whatever the source it wasn't anywhere near; the entire area was just covered in the magic." Lia told him

Makarov closed his eyes thoughtfully before opening them "Raine and Sol just left on a job to Lilac Village, apparently the village is under constant rain and is being attacked by beasts that aren't from the region"

It was almost the same thing they just had in their last job.

"So, what's happening downstairs?" Bickslow asked changing the subject

"Oh, Gray and Juvia got back earlier from their job and their client was generous enough to give them a couple of Billiards tables, everyone is enjoying themselves downstairs with them."

"Sweet!" Bickslow said and rushed downstairs

Makarov sighed "Not much we could do worrying about the weird incidents for now, so leave it alone for now" He told them and they nodded and went to join their guild mates.

Bickslow and Evergreen were the first downstairs, "You're not coming?" Laxus turned to Lia who was heading to the Guild archives instead of the basement game room.

"Well…I kinda…want to read." She held up the notebook she just reequipped which was her mother's journal, after the day of the bet, she had barely had a few hours to herself, they kept dragging her on jobs. "I'll see you later."

She didn't wait for an answer before heading to the Archives, and sat down at one of the tables, she did blink when a certain blonde sat opposite to her. "You don't want to play Billiards?"

He shrugged and leaned back against the chair, closing his eyes, she could easily hear the music playing through his headphones. She sighed and opened the diaries reading through, but her small smile didn't escape Laxus who had peaked at her.

Over the next couple of days, the abnormal weather and strange natural phenomena continued all over Fiore – and even in some of the other countries – even reaching Magnolia where it was now covered in constant rain.

Although with that there were more work than ever for mage guilds, and after only two days the guild was almost practically empty with everyone away on jobs. Lia, Mira, Kinana and Makarov were the only remaining people in the guild.

Makarov was in his office, Mira and Kinana were behind the bar while Lia was in the guild archives continuing her work, the Thunder Tribe had taken a job where a town was covered in constant thunderstorms and had a busted lightning rod, something Laxus could handle on his own easily, which was her excuse when they wanted to take her with them. Everyone had left on a job that suited their magical skill set, Venus had left to Blue Pegasus who had requested her for a party, Wendy had gone with Carla to help a ship that ended up stopping because of the lack of wind, Elfman and Lisanna had gone on one to drive off a pack of beasts that are tearing up fields, Erza had gone on a construction job, and Juvia and Gray had gone together to help a town that needed help to decrease the heat, Natsu, Lucy and Happy were the last to leave on a job where they needed the help of a celestial mage.

Lia had a few notes that she kept marking, there was some item her mother kept mentioning – not by name which would have made things a lot easier – and how she wondered if it would ever find a suitable owner again and it mentioned a few failed attempts.

She had been going over her mother's diaries from backwards, the final diary she found had the final entry on 14th of January, x763, almost a year before Lia was born and a few weeks after Sophia and Liam were married, it detailed how they were finally going to leave Fairy Tail, which meant Lia had nothing on her father or his plans, she was still reading in hope to find a hidden place that her mother might have used to keep the rest of her diaries just in case, after all it was obvious she didn't want anyone to find out what happened with Liam.

The mysterious item intrigued her because it was obviously hidden, and wherever it was hidden her mother might have hidden her secrets.

It was in the afternoon while Lia was having her lunch after Mira's insistence that people started coming back Wendy and Carla were first, followed by Gray and Juvia and finally Erza.

"So, Natsu, Lucy and Happy went on a job too?" Erza wondered

Mira nodded "A job in a village called Seabellus, near the sea." she informed her

Erza looked thoughtful "Seabellus?" She wondered "That's strange."

"It certainly is." Carla agreed as Lia nodded

"Yeesh. You're only noticing now?" Gray asked looking at Erza "How long are you gonna stay dressed like that? It's goofy!"

"The same back at you. Except you need to get dressed!" Erza replied

"So what's strange?" Wendy wondered

"There's no villages in that area, the sea slugs make it impossible." Lia told her

"Exactly." Erza agreed

"What do you mean?" Kinana asked

"It's like Lia said, It's just a habitat for giant sea slugs." Erza explained

"Then somebody sent out a fake job request?" Gray wondered

"Why would anyone do that?" Mira asked

"They were specific enough to ask for a Celestial Mage, so it's safe to say their target was Lucy." Lia concluded "After the GMG, she and Yukino are the most known Celestial mages there is."

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Carla said

"Maybe we should go there, too…" Wendy suggested

"Lucy!" a voice called from outside

"That voice…" Juvia noted before the guild doors were opened showing them the owner

"It's Yukino!" Gray noted

"She's drenched!" Wendy noted

Yukino was gasping before she asked "Is Lucy here?"

"What's going on? What are you in such a hurry about?" Erza asked her

"Hold on. I'll get you a towel." Mira told her

"I have to tell Lucy…I have to tell Lucy something as soon as possible!" Yukino told them

Lia had a bad feeling about this. They guided Yukino inside and after Mira gave her a towel to get dry, they listened to what Yukino had to say.

She placed her two golden keys on the table, "Are those the keys of the Scales and the Fish?" Erza asked her

"Yes. The keys that summon Libra and Pisces. But suddenly, there's no response when I try to call on them." Yukino told them

"Libra and Pisces…" Kinana said

"And both of them are…" Juvia started

"Yeah. Celestial spirits of the 12 Golden gates." Gray told her

"There are many Celestial Spirits, but those 12 have special power." Yukino told them holding the keys

"That's odd. Celestial Spirits that have a contract with Celestial Spirit Wizards are supposed to be bound to follow the wizard's orders." Juvia noted

"You don't know the cause?" Erza asked her

"I looked into various possibilities, but all I came up with was that it's possible Lucy can't use her gold keys either." Yukino replied

"My bad feeling about this is getting stronger by the minute." Carla said

"Then we really should go to them…" Wendy suggested

"Natsu is there, so they'll get by somehow…is what I wish I felt." Gray said

"And Warren is out on a job, so he can't patch us through to them telepathically." Mira said

Lia was quiet, Erza turned to her to see she was deep in thought. "Lia?"

"It's just weird, first the weather and animal migrations that are caused by some weird magic that we can't place…now the Celestial spirits not responding…they have to be connected somehow but I am not sure how." Lia told her

The Guild doors were slammed open again and standing in the doorway was a gasping and drenched Raine in her fox form and riding her was a drenched Sol.

"Raine…" Erza noted surprised

"Sol…" Mira noted as well

Raine collapsed to the ground and transformed back just after Sol had gotten off. "what happened?" Gray asked as they ran to the girl's side

"She said we needed to come back immediately! She's been running for hours, she said it would be faster this way!" Sol told them

"She's exhausted; her magic levels are too low." Lia noted as she crouched beside her " _Spissus Rejuvenate!_ "

"We better get the two of you dry and warm." Mira said before they moved Raine to the infirmary.

A few hours later, Raine was still out of it but Sol after her was dry sat with them in the guild hall and Makarov had joined them after they explained what Yukino had told them. "She didn't explain why the rush?"

"Not exactly, the job went well Raine had Freyja build a magic dome to stop the rain and she set runes around the village to do the same, so it would be easy for the village to remove once things got back to normal, while Ullr and I dealt with the beasts." Sol told them "when we went back she was in frenzy, she told me we needed to head back to the guild right away, Ullr was worried she just told him that Freyja said something about a connection breaking. Afterwards she transformed and I guessed with how fast she was going that she couldn't focus on anything else – that's the longest she has stayed transformed I think – and I didn't want to break her focus."

"A connection was breaking?" Erza repeated "It might be relevant to everything that's going on."

They didn't get a chance to much before the guild hall doors opened again Natsu, Happy and Lucy walked in, Natsu looked angry while Lucy looked somber. They filled them in with what Yukino and Sol told them.

"The information is still fragmentary, so I don't have a proper grip on the situation myself." Yukino said

"But the 12 Golden Gates won't respond when they're summoned?" Makarov asked to confirm after he joined them

"That's right." Lucy answered

"Celestial Spirits and Celestial Spirit mages have contracts with each other, so this is unthinkable, unless something very unusual happened." Yukino stated "This is the first time I haven't been able to make contact with the Celestial Spirits."

"It might be related to whatever 'connection' is breaking…" Lia said

"It's relevant to the weather changes…and the animal behavior…" Raine said and they turned to see her leaning against the wall to help her walk.

"You shouldn't be out of bed Raine." Mira reprimanded as she and Sol walked to help support her.

Raine shook her head "there's no time. If what Freyja said is true…" Raine blinked as she noticed Yukino

"Does it have something to do with the Celestial Spirits?" Yukino asked as Raine nodded as Lucy looked eagerly at her as well.

"I am not the best one to explain but I think Kvasir can fill you in." Raine said as she reached into her rune pouch and pulled a rock plate "Bearer of the rune of Perth, Kvasir…" Raine said as the rune on the rock started glowing "I summon thee"

Magic swirled and a woman appeared in front of Raine, she had long black straight hair that reached her waist she had glasses on and her grey eyes visible behind them, she was wearing a white long coat a black skirt reaching mid-thigh with a red dress shirt and a key hanging on a long chain for necklace, and in her hand was a brown tome.

Raine was gasping after she summoned Kvasir, Mira and Sol led her to a nearby table to sit and rest.

They stared at Kvasir and Kvasir stared back at them. "They don't look strong or smart. The world might be doomed if we entrust this to them."

"What did you say?!" Gray had to be held back by Lia and Wendy while Erza held Natsu back.

Kvasir huffed as she pushed her glasses "The end of all worlds might come if you fail." She turned to Raine "You're sure about them?"

Raine was in the midst of apologizing to Gray and Natsu but turned to Kvasir "yes, of course."

Kvasir adjusted her glasses again and looked at Yukino and Lucy "You're Celestial Spirit mages?" they nodded

"Do you know why they don't respond anymore?" Lucy wondered. "Why they changed?"

Kvasir nodded "Not exactly, what I know is something is happening in the Celestial spirit realm and it's the cause of the weird weather and other weird occurrences in the human world. Whatever happened in the celestial spirit realm has caused the connection to start breaking, we can't reach them."

"Connection?" Erza wondered

The spirit sighed "the realms connection of course." Everyone blinked at her, Raine was apparently the only one who had any idea of what Kvasir was talking about "honestly…" She opened her tome and a magic screen opened in front of her, text and pictures started appearing on the screen.

"The human realm that is Earthland is connected to four different realms that you, mages, can access with magic: The Celestial Spirit Realm and that represents the Heaven, The Soul Realm where the dead human, animal or otherwise pass to, the demon Realm representing hell, and My realm Asgard which is the represents Human realm itself. Now those four realms have a connection each other that keeps the balance in your world, but the connection to the Celestial Realm is breaking for some reason." Kvasir explained "one part of the connection breaking is why your world is getting affected like this, eventually if it is completely broken, all worlds will be thrown into disarray and…" The image on the screen exploded "…everything would be destroyed." They all stared wide eyed at her "Of course if we find the cause we might just stop it before things get to that point."

"Freyja mentioned this has happened before…" Raine said

Kvasir nodded "It did but not like this, the connection started breaking but mended itself almost instantly, that was fourteen years ago."

"Fourteen years ago?" Lia questioned

"on 7 of July, x777." Kvasir told them causing both Natsu and Wendy's eyes to widen

"I figured as much…" Lia muttered every time they had to deal with anything concerning the number seven or a multiple of it, it related back to that date.

"Natsu! Lucy! Tell us what happened in detail." Makarov told them

They told them how they were attacked by a sea slug when they arrived at the location on the job flyer, how Lucy failed to summon any of her spirits and after dealing with the Sea Slug and had summoned Crux, they were attacked by the Golden Celestial spirits who had completely new personalities and looks and didn't seem to remember anything of their past, and how they declared their goal to be 'Perfect Freedom'.

"'Perfect Freedom'?" Makarov questioned

"Is that what Loke said?" Gray asked

"He's the leader of the 12 Golden Gates, right? So maybe he's behind all of this…" Happy suggested

"Then if I pound on him, this could all go away!" Natsu said

"Are you an idiot?" Kvasir questioned making them have to hold back Natsu again "There's no way Leo could be capable of something like this." She turned to Lucy "Did they mention the Celestial Spirit King at all?"

Lucy shook her head "Usually to influence an entire realm like this, you have to go to the one that holds the realms power, so something must have happened to the Celestial Spirit king…" Kvasir said thoughtfully

"Something happened to the Celestial Spirit King…?" Yukino questioned as Kvasir nodded

"Spirits don't repel…it's not possible…and contracts with summoners can't be voided out of the blue like this…but if something happens to the Celestial Spirit King it would affect their entire world and since the 12 Golden Gates are the main power holders, it makes sense that they would be affected as well, that alone would be enough to explain the contracts being nullified and their repelling" Kvasir explained

"What could be the cause though?" Yukino asked

Kvasir shook her head "I can't be sure…but finding the Celestial Spirit King might explain more." She closed her eyes thoughtfully "More worrisome though is them seeking 'Perfect Freedom'…If I am right, then you need to prioritize this over dealing with the Celestial Spirit King first."

"You know what it is?" Lucy asked

"There's only one ritual that comes to mind…Liberum!" Kvasir told them "Though I don't have much information on it…" She was frowning at that.

"Liberum?" Lucy muttered

Yukino seemed to recognize the word and pulled out a tome "Does it have something to do with this ancient tome?"

Lia walked up to her and took a look at the tome "ancient Meridius." Lia noted "I am not that good in this language…but I have a few tomes back home that can help translate it"

Kvasir turned to Lucy "You have a connection to Crux…being a Celestial Spirit himself and being the specialist on Celestial Studies, he could explain more and tell us what's happening in the Celestial Spirit World…"

Lucy nodded and pulled out the silver key.

"But Virgo forced the gate shut…" Happy told her

"I'm sure he'll come!" Lucy said "Gate of the Southern Cross, I open thee! Crux!"

Instead of Crux answering her call, it was Horologium "Why Horologium? Where's Old Master Crux?" Lucy asked

"'It is very dangerous to come here, so I had him bring me, indeed' he said." Horologium said and they noticed Crux inside him

Cana, Elfman, Lisanna, Gajeel and Lily arrived and just as Crux was about to talk Levy, Troy and Jet arrived too.

"Miss Kvasir, long time since I have seen you last." Crux said as he saw the Rune Spirit who nodded at him

"I hoped to see you on better terms though." Kvasir replied

"Miss Lucy, how can I assist you?" Crux asked as he turned to her

"I want you to tell me what's happening in the Celestial Spirit World." Lucy told him

"It's absolute mayhem!" He told her "And it all began so suddenly…The contracts between the 12 golden gates and the celestial spirit wizards have spontaneously become nullified out of the blue. Perhaps due to that influence, they are wreaking havoc, the celestial spirit world has become a wasteland, and we can only hide…"

"What happened to old man mustache?" Natsu asked

Gray clarified "can't the celestial spirit king do something?"

"But we don't know where he is. He's disappeared without a trace." Crux told them, Kvasir narrowed her eyes

"The Celestial Spirit king is missing? I don't believe this!" Lucy exclaimed

"Did anything happen before he disappeared?" Kvasir asked

"Nothing out of the ordinary…" He replied

"What can you tell us about Liberum?" Lucy asked him

"Liberum…" Crux started "…is the name of a certain ritual that Celestial Spirits perform. If performed, they can acquire freedom from their duties as Celestial Spirits."

Lia turned to Levy "Levy, can you take a look at this." She motioned to tome Yukino was holding, Levy walked up to them and Yukino handed her the tome.

"Um…A grimoire written in ancient Meridius." Levy noted "No, it's a study…It looks like most of the entries talk about 'Liberum'."

"That's our scholar!" Makarov praised her

"So an old text like that is even in the human world?" Crux wondered

"But listen to this." Levy called their attention "'When Liberum is performed, a celestial globe is required to liberate the Celestial Spirits from their chains.'"

"I thought so…" Kvasir muttered "If this goes through then the connection is sure to break, with no chance of remedying it."

"She's right…" Crux told them "I didn't realize the connection was breaking…but if it is then it's a matter of time before the worlds collapse, if the balance is disturbed. The balance though had always been handled by the ruin spirits, so I don't know much about it."

"So it's now even more substantial we deal with the matter." Erza noted "First we deal with Liberum. Levy are there any other clues related to Liberum?"

"Calculating formulas and lore are recorded here, but a lot of it's vague, and the words are too old for me to glean anything else." Levy told her

"We won't get anywhere without digging deeper." Erza noted

"If it's information we need then our best bet is the magic library!" Lia said thoughtfully "If there was even a trace of that sphere knowledge about it would be there."

"The ritual needs a 'Celestial Globe' and where is it?" Makarov asked

"I don't know." Crux told them "I couldn't even tell you if they already have it or not."

"My guess is they don't have it yet." Erza said

"Kvasir, do you know anything about the sphere?" Raine asked weakly from where she sat

"Just that it was found by some humans before, but I am not sure of its current whereabouts."

"I first though the influence of the anomalous weather may be extending to the Celestial Spirit World but it seems to be the other way around. But we still lack a lot of information…" Makarov noted "We'll go on from here, getting ahead of the 12 Golden Gates by getting our hands on more detailed information. It all begins from there. Erza, you're in charge!"

"Right! Cana, you're with me. Wendy, you're with Carla. Gray, you're with Juvia. Gajeel, you're with Lily. Mira, please go with Elfman. Lia, please go with Lisanna. We'll gather information from anywhere likely to have a clue about this. Upon Warren's return, we'll set up lateral communication between teams. And till Raine arrives our primary objective is Liberum" Erza ordered "I want Lucy, Natsu, Yukino, Levy and Happy to head for the magic library."

Just at that moment they noticed that Natsu along with Horologium and Crux was gone. "That idiot!" Makarov shouted

Lia sighed "Levy, can I have the old tome, I have a few books back home that could help me translate it more."

"Right." Levy told her as she handed it to her.

"What about me?" Raine asked quietly causing her own spirit to react before any of the others.

"You need to go rest!" Kvasir narrowed her eyes at her "You seem to have the start of a cold and your magical reserves are almost completely exhausted." She turned to the rest of them "I will head back and search through our archives." She told them before she disappeared

Levy, Yukino, Lucy and Happy headed out to the Magical Library, Erza and Cana along with Wendy and Carla headed to the Archeological club, Mira, Elfman, Gray and Juvia were in the guild Library looking through it, Gajeel and Lily had gone with Lia and Lisanna to her house to look through the Sephiran library.

Lia was currently with her gale force reading glasses looking through several books on ancient Meridius. While taking notes to translate the tome Yukino had given them, while the others were trying to find any books that was concerned with the Celestial realm.

"How many books can one person own?" Gajeel grumbled as he bought over another stack of books

Lia looked up and snorted "If you think this is impressive you need to see Levy's collection." She turned to her book "Besides this is the family library that I know of. There should be a hidden one but I still don't know where."

"A hidden one?" Lisanna wondered

Lia nodded "Apparently the books are…well, more dangerous so they were placed in the hidden library. Mom never got the chance to tell me where it is though."

"Did you find anything?" Lisanna asked trying to change the subject from Sophia.

"A bit…" Lia told them sighing "But nothing good. Apparently their perfect freedom is only going to last twelve days."

"What happens then?" Lily asked

"They die" Lia replied grimly

"Why would they want something like that?" Lily wondered "That is do they even know?"

Lia didn't reply.

"Well, how do we stop them?!" Gajeel asked

"A few ways…the sure way if we find the Celestial Globe and destroy it." Lia answered as she read "The other is making sure they are all back in the Celestial Spirit Realm, they apparently need to be somewhere called Astral Spirytus in our world, it where they are if they have the globe…if they're all are back in the Celestial Spirit Realm then the ritual can be stopped." She bit her lip "There also something called Liberum Verus…it's where most of the reading gets almost impossible to translate…what I got though it's unlike Liberum the spirits need to be in the Celestial Spirit Realm…the rest are in jumbles something about transfer of power…Celestial Spirit King…Trinitas?"

"Trinitas?" Lisanna asked

"It's Meridian for the Trinity…or more known as Father, Son and Celestial Spirit…but I can't be sure what it means here." Lia replied taking the glasses off "There isn't more I can translate from this though."

Gajeel snorted "Not a lot of help is it?"

"Gajeel…" Lily warned

"Not much I can do about it…Summoning magic isn't something my family has any books on it, it has nothing to do with Particle magic…we can't even replicate it…" Lia countered

"Calm down you two." Lisanna tried

"Oi, everybody!" A voice echoed in their heads

"Warren, your back?" Lisanna wondered

"Yeah…Erza and the others are here, we can't seem to reach Lucy and her group though; they're too far away."

"Have you found anything?" Erza's voice echoed

"Not much." Lia replied "There's only so much I could translate, and most of it is about Liberum, no clue about what happened to even make them change though."

"Any information is better than nothing, Raine just Kvasir who seems to have found something."

"I have been cross referencing when the connection started to actually degrade, with major events that happened in the human world or anything that involved the celestial spirits" Kvasir voice echoed

"Did you find anything?" Lily asked curiously

"Eclipse" She replied as they all stared at each other in alarm "It's the only thing that makes and connection…you used the celestial spirit power to open and close the gate…the gate itself had a lot of dark magic that dissipated when the gate was destroyed, that kind of magic wouldn't just disappear…"

"So you're saying that the magic went into the celestial realm?" Gray wondered over the connection

"More than likely…" Kvasir said

"You said that the last time something almost similar to this happened on 7 of July, x777, right?" Lia asked thoughtful as Kvasir replied with a yes "The day that the dragons disappeared."

"It would make sense for the dragons reappearing to have the same effect." Gajeel finished as Lia nodded

"So how do we get them back?" Mira asked

"The magic would have taken some place as its new core instead of the gate" Kvasir informed them "More than likely it will be something in relation with the Celestial Spirit King. You need to destroy that magic and not the core, destroying the core would just make the magic move again to something else."

"So after we deal with Liberum we deal with returning the spirits." Erza told them "Lia what did you find out about Liberum?"

Lia told them what she told Gajeel, Lily and Lisanna.

"Twelve days?!" Gray wondered

"No way…" Juvia gasped

"We can't be sure if they know or not but we need to stop them either way…" Lily said

"Lucy and Yukino would be devastated if we didn't." Mira agreed

"Where is Astral Spirytus?" Carla wondered

"I am not sure where it is…but if they have the globe it's where they more likely are." Lia told them

"We asked the archeological team, the globe was found and was donated to the magic archive." Cana informed them "Right where Levy, Lucy, Yukino and Happy went."

"They're not there anymore according to Warren" Erza said "It's like they joined with two more people and are heading somewhere…"

"If the Spirits have the globe they'll need to head to Astral Spirytus, right?" Gray said "Where is that by the way?"

"Astral Spirytus is a connected gateway to the human realm which basically means it's a space that lies between the human realm and the Celestial Spirit Realm and can be accessed through the mountains here." Kvasir informed them, Lia and the others assumed she was showing them a kind of map

"I think that's where Lucy and her group are headed" Warren told them

"Which means the celestial spirits have the globe. Right, we'll all head there too, Lia, Gajeel, Lily and Lisanna meet us by the town edge" Erza told them

"About time I got a chance to fight. Gehee!" Gajeel grinned as they stood up.

* * *

 **I Do remember saying I would post interesting facts about the fic but failed to do so after the first time XD so an interesting fact was Lia's original magic was Rune spirit magic not particle magic but when I came up with the idea for Particle magic I liked it better but I was half way through making Rune spirit magic so when I created Raine I gave her that magic and it somehow ended fit with her story - that so far I am the only one that knows it XD - so I finished working on the magic!**

 **On another note this story has over 50 followers and almost 50 favorites! :D Thanks to all the awsome people who still read and follow this story and I hope you keep on enjoying it!**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter and hope to hear your opinions in reviews or pm's :D**


	44. Trintas and Eclipse!

They had left Magnolia in a hurry and headed to where Kvasir had told them Astral Spirytus was. The mountain was completely shrouded in mist as the ten mages and the two exceeds rushed through it.

"I can sense them this way! They're fighting." Lia told them

"Natsu probably couldn't hold back!" Gray said

"We need to hurry!" Erza told them

Raine hadn't come with them much to her displeasure, according to Kvasir giving the current circumstances her magic wouldn't work in Astral Spirytus because of the breaking connection, and it wouldn't have worked in the Celestial spirit realm anyhow.

So, the ones that had gone were, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Lia, Mira, Elfman, Lisanna, Gajeel, Wendy, Cana, Carla and Lily.

"Just ahead!" Lia told them before they finally broke through the mist, just to see Natsu being dragged through the air by a whip holding his arm, Gray was the first to act sending an icicle cutting the whip.

Natsu fell to the ground as Virgo who was holding the whip skid back.

"Everyone!" Lucy said

"How did you catch up to us?" Levy asked

"It thanks to Warren." Erza told them

"He used his magic to track you here. After Lia told us it's where the ritual needed to be held and Kvasir told us where the entrance is." Mira told them "and we climbed the mountain to get here."

"Are you all okay?" Juvia asked them

"Yes." Yukino replied

"Mooore of them? This is increasingly unpleasant." Taurus said

"No fair-zura!" The male Pisces said

"it misses me off…" Virgo said

Erza drew her sword "This is Astral Spirytus. They haven't accomplished Liberum yet though, right?"

"Right." Lucy answered

Gajeel cracked his knuckled grinning "I've always wanted to try having a slugfest with Celestial Spirits."

"Trading blows isn't the focus here, Gajeel." Lily told the iron dragon slayer who shouted back at him to shut up.

"Lucy, Yukino, we have an idea about how to get them back to normal, but we need to first make sure they don't perform Liberum." Lia told the girls who grinned

"Really?!" Lucy asked

"You have to thank Kvasir for that one though." Lia told them

"Raine wanted to be here but apparently her magic wouldn't work here." Lisanna told them

"Hey, Natsu. Here's where I pay you back for saving me." Gray told Natsu before he took off his shirt causing Juvia to cheer "Loke! Now we can go one on one!"

"But is it necessary to take off your clothes?" Lucy yelled

"I'll destroy you!" Loke shouted angrily as he sent a beam of dark magic at them, Natsu, Gray, Wendy and Juvia countered at the same time.

As all the magic met it exploded causing a cloud of dust in the area. When it cleared each of the spirits was standing in front of one of the gates. "If you want to stop us, you'll have to follow us." Loke told them as each of the spirits stood in one of the doorways. "Show us your own craving for freedom!"

"Loke!" Lucy called as each spirit disappeared into the light emitting from the doors.

"Bastard!" Natsu cursed he was about to follow behind Loke before the princess stopped him "Please wait!" They all turned to her "I'll entrust each of you with one key. They're charged with Celestial Spirit Magic, so now all of you will be able to close the gates at will." The box had a total of ten keys along with two empty slots for each of the keys Yukino and Lucy were holding.

"Give me Loke's!" Natsu asked

"I'll take Loke's…" Lucy said but Natsu stopped her

"The way he is now; he won't listen to anyone." Natsu told her as he held his fist up "This is the only thing he'll understand."

"Don't go too far. He's a precious friend of mine." Lucy told him

"I know." Natsu replied before the princess handed him the key

"This is the space between the Human world and the Celestial Spirit World. I don't know what will happen, so be careful." She told him

"All right! Let's go, Happy!" Natsu called and turned around as Happy replied "Aye, sir!"

Each of the others took a key, Lia ended up paired with Mira to take down Pisces since there were two spirits instead of one, Lisanna paired with Elfman.

"Princess Hisui, I promise we will succeed in closing the gates." Lucy promised

"Please do." The princess replied

Erza turned to them "Let's go after them!" She commanded as they all replied "Right!" and they headed to their respective gates.

Mira and Lia found themselves at sea shore on a small island "A place like this is inside the portal?" Mira wondered

"It's a magic realm between worlds, so it's not unexpected." Lia commented

Just then they noticed a Shark fin going through the sand, Lia pulled Mira's hand and the two took off into the sky.

"Thank you!" Mira thanked Lia before she transformed into her Satin form.

The two were surprised when the shark that tried to attack them along with another spirit that looked like a Kappa flew to surround them.

"Good Girls, you have quick reflexes!" The shark cheered them as she clapped

"Hey there, guild girls!" The kappa called "Let's swim together-zura!" before he sent an attack from above aimed to send them to the water but the two managed to dodge it. "Well looks like this will be fun." He said before turning to look at the shark "I'm gonna bring them down first, you old hag!"

The shark started crying "That's terrible! Awful! You shouldn't call me 'old hag' or bring them down first!" meanwhile Lia and Mira were dodging his attacks "I'm going to cry my gills out!"

"Lia, think it's time we started attacking?" Mira asked her

"Probably." Lia replied grinning

"I will take her; I need to have a talk with her!" She said before she flew past the Kappa.

"Oi!" He called before he had to dodge a fire ball from Lia.

"I would stay focused on me if I were you." She told him "We are in a hurry so I'll make this quick." And she disappeared

"You're running away?" He wondered as he looked around him, the lightning gathered behind him in a bolt the hit him straight in the back shocking him and sending him towards shore.

Where the bolt hit him was Lia in her lightning form before it faded and she was back to normal. Just then the shark came flying over her head before landing beside the kappa head first into the sand.

Mira and her landed beside them and Mira pulled out the key closing their gate. "That was easy." Lia commented

Mira nodded "I guess we now need to find our way out of here." She told her.

"That…" She looked around "…won't be easy."

They didn't find a passage out of the place they were in as much as it found them, the ground had suddenly shaken before the ground gave under and they found themselves a passage of sorts.

Lia and Mira decided to follow it and it led out of the realm they were in, and reached a circular room where they found Elfman and Lisanna waiting.

They were eventually joined by Cana, Gray, then Levy followed shortly by Juvia, Gajeel and Lily.

"What was that tremor before?" Gray wondered

"I am not sure but it felt like something was changing in the place." Lia told him

"Well we suddenly found ourselves here." Lily commented

They turned when they heard footsteps to see Erza walking out of one of the passages. "You're here." Gray commented

"Everyone…what is this place?" Erza asked

"I don't know exactly, but we're all showin' up here." Gajeel told her

"It seems things have gone smoothly for all of us." Lily said

"I closed the gate on my celestial spirit." Levy said cheerfully

Juvia looked upset on the other hand "Juvia is sad. I have a feeling I missed a precious moment in Gray's life."

"You're imagining things! Forget about it!" Gray told her looking embarrassed

Lia didn't turn to him – she was busy trying to form any sort of map of the place – , she did make an obvious comment "You're lying, Gray, on that hand Juvia we'll make him talk when we're done here."

"Lisanna and I were the first ones here, which must mean we closed our gate first!" Elfman boasted "Man!"

Mira turned to him clapping "That's great!"

"This is the first time I've beaten Erza, sis!" He said earning a glare from Erza

"I'm happy for you, Elfman!" Mira told him

"We're not in a timed competition over closing the gates." Erza told him her glare intensifying "So I don't mind if you choose to see it that way, but…"

Cana approached Erza to calm her down "Cut it out. That's not mature."

Levy tried to help "So how did it go with you, Erza?"

"With Sagittarius the Archer? It took some time, but proved to be good exercise." Erza said "By the way, I don't see Natsu."

"We're still missing Natsu, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Lucy and Yukino." Lisanna commented

"The Lion, the Virgin, The Scales and the Water bearer…" Erza said

"No, I think the water bearer is closed." Lia told her as she stopped focusing on her magic and turned around to explain "I can sort of make a connection to 9 realms that are empty…so counting us and since I can't seem to find either Yukino or Lucy I would say Wendy and Carla closed their gate. More so, since I can sense them with Natsu and Happy."

"So Natsu and Happy closed Leo's gate then?" Lily asked

Lia shook her head "I can sense him…along with another spirit, one we should've probably guessed would be affected as well."

"Another Spirit?" Gray asked

"Ophiuchus." Lia told them

"The one Yukino used in the GMG?!" Mia said as Lia nodded

"So where are they?" Erza asked

Lia turned to one of the paths "This one should get us the closest to them. Also, the princess and Arcadios are on their way to where Natsu is right now."

Erza nodded "It's better if we try and go help Natsu and Wendy then we try and find Lucy and Yukino." She faced all of them "Let's go."

And so they headed down the path.

* * *

In their journey down the long path, Lia kept them updated, how she sensed strong magic conjuring at the point where Natsu, Wendy and the Exceed were, they concluded Librium had started.

At Some point, she felt Loke disappear and they concluded his gate has been closed at about the same time they started hearing the voice singing.

"Omnia…Magna…Stella…Rex Prae…" the voice sang over and over.

"Now you humans can do nothing but observe!" The same voice that sang said

They stopped walking "What's that voice?" Erza wondered

"Where is it coming from?" Levy asked

"That's not any of the Celestial Spirits we know." Gray noted

"In that case, it could be the 13th Celestial Spirit." Cana said

"Ophiuchus." Lia agreed

Erza nodded "Let's hurry."

The voice started singing again "Omnia…Magna…Stella…Rex Prae…"

"That again?" Gray said

"Creepy…" Gajeel commented

"Very possibly…it's Liberum." Erza said

At the same time the voice echoed around them again "Princess Hisui?" Lia confirmed to them she could sense the Princess and Arcadios with Natsu and the others now as the voice continued "No matter who shows up, no one can stop Liberum. Omnia…Magna…Stella…Rex Prae…In fact, the struggling of you humans has accomplished our desire."

The princess's voice echoed as well "Those words…'Omnia…Magna…Stella…Rex Prae…' it is all for you, my king."

"You understand what I'm saying?"

"This 'king' is the Celestial Spirit King, isn't it?" Hisui asked "It is all for you, my king. This series of events isn't about the Celestial Spirits' genuine wish…"

"It's about the Celestial Spirit King?" Erza wondered

Lia's eyes widened "Liberum Verus!" Lia commented as she reequipped the tome Yukino had given her "transfer of power…Celestial Spirit King…Trinitas" She handed the book to Levy who wanted a look herself "They're trying to make the king stronger."

"The same king that's probably responsible for the madness the Celestial Spirit world is in?" Gray wondered as they nodded grimily

Hisui's voice returned "The Celestial Spirit King planned all this, didn't he?"

"Very impressive, Princess." Ophiuchus said

"If that's the case, there's only one thing to do." Natsu's voice echoed around them "If we kick the Celestial Spirit King's ass, this'll all be over."

Cana sighed "We never got the chance to tell him that we'd probably need to that any way to end this."

"Yeah but it's more critical now…I am not sure…but I think the transfer of power requires the sacrifice of the 12 Celestial Spirits." Lia told them grimly

Ophiuchus chuckled "Are you humans capable of such a thing? I shall protect the Celestial Spirit King. Me, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer! The 13th Celestial Spirit that lurks in the shadow of the Celestial Spirit King! See how effective your forced gate closing trick is!"

Lia snapped as she sensed them "I can sense Lucy and Virgo, and Yukino and Libra all of a sudden! She probably opened some sort of gateway."

"We need to reach Natsu and we also need to figure how to stop the ritual." Erza told them

"That's probably what Trint–" she stopped as she sensed it "The realms are merging." She informed them, she could sense the magic starting to mix of each realm before Natsu did something to help finish the merge. "Lucy and Yukino are fighting together…but if they close the last two gates…the spirits we'll be in even more trouble."

They had no way to get the message to them and they never got the chance to tell them what they found out and now that would prove to be the worst thing they could have done.

It only took a moment between Lucy and Yukino closing the gates for them to appear with Natsu and the others and finally for Ophiuchus voice to echo again.

She laughed "I'm grateful to you, human! I was waiting for this moment, when you desperately sealed away all of them. Now all 12 Celestial Spirits are back with the Celestial Spirit King!" this proved their worst fears.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy's voice echoed

"You mean…all of this was part of the Celestial Spirit King's plan, too?" Hisui asked

"Not the Celestial Spirit King's plan! My plan!" she told them "Even if they had a hard time getting there, the 12 needed to be sent back. You, the Celestial Spirits, everyone was forced to dance by the phantasmal Liberum. The red light coming from the celestial globe is reaching the Celestial Spirit King by way of the constellations. From the start, this rite was to funnel the powerful energy to the Celestial Spirit King. Liberum Verus!"

"Trinitas?" Levy muttered as she thought about the significant of the word.

"Father, Son and Celestial Spirit" Lia said as she thought about it too, she had the feeling this was what would solve their problem, the father in this case was more likely Ophiuchus since she was conducting the ritual, and the Celestial Spirits was the celestial globe since it was what was sending the red light to the king according to Ophiuchus but she didn't know what the third element of this was.

"That's right. For that purpose, the Celestial Spirits had to be returned to the stars." Ophiuchus continued "After being eclipsed the might Celestial Spirit King was able to command great power, but he required even greater power. The 12 Zodiac Celestial Spirits feared that power and tried to flee the Celestial Spirit World. By obtaining a mere 12 days of freedom, that is, 'life'. I saw this as an opportunity to give the Celestial Spirit King even more power, and came up with this scheme."

"So basically, her's a raging demigod jackass, whose sense of reason was tossed out the window, right?" Happy said

"And by trying to protect the Celestial Spirits we backed them into a corner?" Lucy said

"That's not all. If the eclipsed king continues to accumulate power and wreak havoc, he'll destroy the Celestial Spirit World until there's nothing left." The princess noted

"That's similar to what Kvasir said…" Carla said as they all stared in horror

"Correct. The princess speaks of the future." Ophiuchus said

"If the Celestial Spirit World is wiped out, you'll go with it, snake charmer!" Happy's voice echoed

"If that's what the Celestial Spirit King wishes, I shall greet annihilation with joy!" She replied "Everything shall be as the great Celestial Spirit King desires!"

"Astral Spirytus." Levy said causing both her and Lia to share a look

"Of course." Lia said

But before the two could explain they heard a beast roar followed by Ophiuchus laughing.

"We need to hurry!" Erza said as Gray agreed

"Wait!" Levy stopped them

"They could handle it there but we need to handle something else on our end to stop Liberum Verus." Lia told them

"Trinitas…which means the trinity. In this ancient language, it refers to father, son and Celestial Spirit…it signifies the three things required to complete the ritual and thus to stop it" Levy explained "The Father is Ophiuchus who's conducting the ritual"

"Natsu and Happy are dealing with her." Lia informed them as the cave they were in shook repeatedly. "The Celestial Spirit is the Celestial Globe, since it's the one sending the light back to the Celestial spirit world. Lucy, Yukino, Wendy and Carla are trying to destroy it." Lia told them as she sensed the four sending attacks at the concentration of magic.

"Finally the son is Astral Spirytus…where they needed to be to conduct the ritual." Levy informed them

"So what, Levy, Lia?!" Elfman asked

"If this Trinity isn't destroyed all at the same time, I don't think Liberum Verus can be stopped." Levy told him

"I see…" Erza said

"Like I told you the others are handling the Globe and the snake." Lia told them before she smirked "So we get to do what we do best…"

"…We hit Astral Spirytus." Erza finished for her "And destroy it completely from here."

They all smirked.

"Anyway, we can just let loose on it, right?" Gajeel asked

"A pattern that's an oldie but a goodie." Lily said

"We're gonna teach the snake bearer that she doesn't have exclusive rights to a 'trinity'. So let's go!" Erza told them

They all shouted an agreement and each took off in a different direction to do just that.

On the outside Wendy, Lucy and Carla was relentless in their attacks on the Celestial Sphere but it was proving difficult to even scratch it, Natsu and Happy too were having a difficult time, Ophiuchus was using a kind of flute that can be used to control anything with one blow into it but none of them were willing to give up.

Likewise, inside the caves and tunnels the rest of the group was fighting against Astral Spirytus itself, which had somehow sensed their intentions to try and destroy it and was thus defending itself against them.

The Strauss siblings, each in their takeover form, was destroying the bricks the walls kept sending at them, in another part, Gray and Juvia dealt with walls that tried closing in on them, Gajeel and Lily had spikes from the ground and the ceiling coming at them, Lia on her own was using her Destroy spell to destroy the part she was in while she kept flying away from the ground that kept giving to holes under her, Cana, Levy and Erza all were aiming their strongest attacks as well to destroy the place, none of the Fairy Tails was about to give up.

Piece by Piece Astral Spirytus was getting destroyed, even Wendy's attack on the sphere was starting to have an effect as the red shining constellations in the sky faltered.

Ophiuchus seeing that used her flute to cause a tremor so they had to dodge the falling rocks, the Princess ended up having to be protected by Arcadios who ended up gravely injured under the giant piece of rock. While Wendy helped him, Lucy, Yukino and Hisui turned to the sphere to deal with it.

Things was reaching a critical state, while they were making progress at destroying Astral Spirytus and started opening holes that led to the outside with how much damage they were doing, the Sphere and Ophiuchus had yet to be dealt with and they needed to destroy all three at the same time.

Lia stopped as she opened a hole that she could see the falling red light through, she could sense everything that was going on, so she wasn't shocked when a green light started countering the one from the sphere, it was a spell from Lucy, Yukino and Hisui. "Almost…" She whispered and gathered her magic herself as she flew above and aimed her hands at the last part of her Area "Magic Burst: Heaven's punishment!" the beam released hitting the entire area in sight, as she and the rest of her group sent their final attacks at Astral Spirytus, Natsu and Happy went in for the final attack and Lucy, Yukino and Hisui's spell finally cracked the sphere before it broke.

The red light disappeared along with the Constellations in the sky and the snake body, everyone started to gather together on the last part of solid earth just as a tremor overtook it again.

"Hey! What the hell's goin' on here?!" Gray asked as he came running in the lead

"Oh! You're here, Gray?" Natsu wondered bored

"Don't talk like an idiot as soon as you see me!" Gray shouted back "So what happened to the giant snake?"

"She wasn't so tough!" Natsu replied

"I helped beat her!" Happy added

"What happened to the 12 Zodiac Celestial Spirits?" Lily asked

"If we don't see 'em here, then…" Gajeel said as Yukino nodded

"Right. We succeeded in shutting the gate on all of them." Yukino replied

"But they still haven't gone back to their original forms." Lucy said sadly.

"Don't give up. This ain't over yet." Natsu told her grinning

"That's right! Things will work out." Happy said

"You guys weren't with us, but Kvasir told us to bring them back we would have to find a concentration of Eclipse magic in the Celestial Spirit Realm and destroy it." Lia informed her "Compared to all we had to do that should be easy."

Just then the ground under them started glowing. "First, we've got to escape from here." Erza told them before a loud roar ripped through the air

"What is that sound?" Mira asked

"It sounds like a roar!" Levy said

"Hey! We're not on stable ground!" Gajeel said as the ground started shaking and breaking

"Maybe we did too much damage to it earlier…" Juvia said

"We were supposed to do a lot of damage to it, right?" Lisanna asked

"Who wrecked the joint like this?!" Natsu asked

"Probably the one who has no concept of holding back!" Gray replied from beside him

The two retreated when Erza came from behind them "Are you talking about me?" She glared at them

"Let's just get the hell outta here!" Gajeel said

"but how do we get out?!" Cana wondered

"When we came here…" Lucy started

"I-It was by holding up a key and using magic…" Hisui finished as the roar got louder and they all, especially the Dragon slayers had to cover their ears.

"Could this be the Celestial Spirit King's roar?" Lucy wondered

"It sounds like her's hearty or maybe more like savage…" Yukino said

"Then we were too late…" Hisui wondered

"…to stop Liberum Verus?" Arcadios finished

Just then in a flash of light, Horologium appeared "That is correct." He told them before he fell to the ground "At this rate, the Celestial Spirit World will be wiped out…" before he opened up and clothes fell out "Please…"

"That's Celestial Spirit Clothing." Levy noted

"The stuff that lets humans move around in the Celestial Spirit World?" Gajeel asked

"I'll save you. I swear, I'll save you all!" Lucy promised

Yukino walked to her "I'll go, too!"

"Me, too!" the princess said surprising

Arcadios tried to stop her though "Wait, Princess! Time flows differently in the Celestial Spirit World."

"I know." She replied

"I cannot let you go to such a world, princess!" He told her "even if you can come back years could've passed here…"

She turned to him "My mind is set!" She told him

"We'll all be with her. And we'll make it work somehow. So don't worry." Natsu told him

Another roar rippled.

"That sound…" Arcadios said

"I'm going because I can hear it." She told him "As long as I can hear that roar, my atonement won't be over!"

They all walked towards the clothes. "This is no time for arguing!" Cana told them

"Yes. We have to go." Mira agreed

"That's a Man!" Elfman said

Natsu cracked his knuckles "The time difference or whatever doesn't matter! Loke and the others are in a bad jam. That's why we're going. It's simple. Right, Lucy?"

They all started changing their clothes.

"Then it's settles. Even if 100 years have passed here by the time we get back…" Erza started "…as long as we're with our comrades, there is nothing to fear."

Juvia was staring at Gray with hearts in her eyes "As long as Juvia can be with Gray, 100 years would be fine."

"After all, we got over the seven-year gap somehow." Levy added holding Lily

"I don't care what period I'm in, as long as I get to run amok." Gajeel said

Mira and Lia looked at each other "I'm sure Eiran will understand." Mira said as Lia nodded, she doubted it would take a 100 years but they wouldn't go back till they were sure everything was okay in the Celestial world.

"The only downside we won't get to see the children of the two of you if it takes a 100 years." Lisanna teased making both Cana and Lia giggle at Mira's blush.

Horologium started glowing "The Celestial Spirit King is going to absorb Astral Spirytus very shortly!" he told them "Please change into the Celestial Spirit clothes and journey to my world!"

Arcadios changed as well and turned to Hisui "Understood. Princess, I am your sword and shield. Let us go together."

They all started glowing too "Everyone else, wait for us!" Lucy said

"We're on our way! You'd better not try to escape, beardie!" Natsu added

And then they were traveling through some kind of tunnel, before they landed. Strong winds, dead planets and darkness was what awaited them.

"This is the Celestial Spirit World?" Hisui wondered

"The wind is so strong…" Erza noted

"It's totally different from the last time we were here." Juvia said

"If I don't hang on to something for dear life, I'm gonna be blown away!" Happy said

Lia already started trying to find the Eclipse magic but stopped when she sensed him, it was at the same time they all noticed him, he was hard to miss with how large he was and that he was the cause of the said wind as he swallowed all the planets in the area around them.

"What is that gigantic thing?!" Gajeel asked

"Hey, don't tell me that's…" Lily said

He was a giant dark beast, his skin seemed to be made on the night sky and around his head flew several planets.

"That's…the Celestial Spirit King?!" Yukino and Lucy wondered together

"That's not the Celestial Spirit King I know!" Lucy said

"Kvasir said he would have to be the most affected for it to affect the Celestial Spirit world" Levy said

"The eclipsed Celestial Spirit King…" Erza noted "No…More like the Celestial Spirit Beast…"

"Hey, look! Around its head part!" Cana pointed out and that's when they noticed

"It doesn't have a beard!" Happy said

"That's not what she meant!" Carla snapped at him

Inside each of the planets hovering around his head was one of the 13 Celestial spirits.

"Everyone! We're coming to save you!" Lucy shouted Just then the beast opened what seemed like a vortex or a black hole where his mouth should be and swallowed the said planets.

"The suction effect stopped!" Lily said

"What the hell is that thing, getting full from sucking up the 12 Celestial spirits?" Gajeel asked

Erza turned to Lia beside her "We need to find the magic Kvasir mentioned."

Lia already was trying to locate it "I am trying but I haven't found anything yet."

"It's not over yet!" Natsu said grabbing their attention "Let's beat the hell out of that thing!"

"Lia find the magic, for now Natsu's right." Erza said before walking forward "we need to stop it. Let's go!"

They all jumped using other planets as platforms to reach the beast. Lia tried to find anything but the Celestial Spirit Realm was almost barren except for some spirits hiding. She took off into the air she needed to move, her range could only go so far.

At the same time the others sans Lucy, Yukino, Hisui and Arcadios were attacking the beast, but magic impacted with its skin without doing anything, even combined attacks had no effect.

The beast let out a roar and waved its arms in a giant arc that sent all of them flying, Lia ended being dragged into it and even with her spell found it hard to stop steady herself. When they headed in for another attack they didn't expect what happened, it aimed its finger at Gray and Juvia first as red light appeared on his finger, Juvia was hit. She disappeared and appeared as a star constellation in the sky.

"W-What? What just happened?!" Carla asked

"It can do that…?" Wendy wondered wide eyed

Mira, Elfman, Lisanna and Cana were the next ones to get hit with it.

"That bastard!" Natsu cursed

"How can we get them back to normal?" Wendy asked

"Maybe bringing that thing down will bring them back!" Gray suggested

It started trying to pick them off, first Lily was hit while he carried Gajeel, and when Gajeel was about to get hit Levy pushed him out of the way and took the hit for him. Wendy and Carla were next ones to get hit.

They had to hide to avoid the red beams it kept sending everywhere, but it still managed to hit Yukino, Arcadios and Hisui.

Natsu angrily picked up a giant planet. "What are you gonna do, Natsu?!" Happy asked him

"What do you think?! I'm gonna kick its ass!" Natsu shouted

Lia sighed Natsu was beyond reason now. The beast just destroyed the planet with one kick after Natsu had sent it at it.

"Natsu! You can't give in to anger!" Erza shouted at him "It'll turn into a constellation, too!"

"And if we don't hit it, nothing will happen!" Natsu yelled back

Gray gathered and was about to start attacking but the beast started trying to hit him, Lia flew in and grabbed him to get him out of the way. "Thanks! But what the hell are we supposed to do?!"

Lia put down Gray, Lucy had pulled her whip and joined the fight and restarted their attacks but it still didn't have any effect. Lia found cover, she closed her eyes and started pushing her range, they needed to find that magic.

Lia couldn't find anything, that is till the beast spawned vortices all over its body, while everybody kept trying to avoid getting sucked into the vortices, at some point Gajeel was barely holding away from being taken into it, they were all surprised though when Lia came flying and went into that very same vortex.

"Lia!" Erza called but the woman was gone.

"Is she crazy?!" Gajeel wondered

"What does she think she's doing?" Gray wondered

The said woman was surprised to find herself in a complete black void, but just then she had to dodge when a green beam of energy went just past her and towards the vortex she had come from, she couldn't be pushed out when she just came here. She had sensed it, not just the Eclipse magic but the spirits' as well as another magic that she couldn't place who it belonged to just that it was another celestial spirit but much stronger than the 13.

She looked in all directions before she got a destination "This way!" She started flying in the direction she sensed them, it was while she was making her way that a group of large rocks started heading for her, she dodged but they changed direction and started heading for her again.

She clapped her hands "Destroy!" the spell spread around her in a sphere like and destroyed the rocks

She started making her way ahead, it didn't take her long to see the obvious purple light in a distance, she was about to continue there when she heard it.

"Hey, Loke! Can you hear me?!" The voice shouted

"Natsu!" she noted before she called louder "Natsu! Over here!" her voice echoed though so he wouldn't be able to find her, but Natsu came from a distance grinning at her and in his tow was another group of rocks. "You just had to bring company, didn't you?"

She gathered her magic "Magic Burst: Arrows!" with her hand stretched as a magic beam formed in her hand heading for Natsu and Happy, but separated around them turning to multiple beams and hitting the rocks behind them.

"Thanks!" He told her grinning "Watch out!"

They both started dodging the lightning heading for them and attacking the rocks that was coming more frequently.

"Natsu we need to head towards that purple light!" Lia shouted

"I know! I can smell Loke from there!" He replied

They both started to destroy the new set of rocks that came at them as they flew back to back now.

"This guy's stubborn!" Natsu said annoyed

"But it means we're heading in the right direction, if it's so keen to protect it!" Lia said

It was now throwing lightning and rocks at them, they had to dodge and attack at the same time.

"It's attacking even more fiercely!" Happy noted

"At any rate, it's a pain in the ass to work in here when it's so dark!" Natsu replied

Just as he said three glowing balls spheres came flying towards them "What the…?!" Natsu wondered

"It seems sentient…" Happy noted

They had to dodge them when they started trying to hit them. "It's just playing with us!" Happy said

"It can go to hell!" Natsu said

Lia went closer to Natsu "Hold onto me, Natsu! I don't want this to hit you!" She gave him her back and he into her as she clapped her hands "Destroy Maxima!" unlike her usual destroy spell which didn't have any visible trace this one formed an almost orange tinted sphere around Her and by extension Natsu and Happy, before it spread outwards, it hit all three spheres at the same time and destroyed them.

"Amazing!" Natsu grinned at her "Let's go!"

"Ah!" she grinned back and the three started flying led by Lia, since Natsu's nose wasn't getting him to an exact location.

"Hey, Natsu, Lia, is it me, or is it getting a little brighter in here?" Happy asked

"It is…" Lia agreed she had been too focused on her sense to notice

"Huh? And it's not attackin' like it was…" Natsu noted, nothing had attacked them since the three spheres

"Maybe everyone outside is pitching in." Happy suggested

"Yeah!" Natsu agreed

"Then we should hurry and do our part here." Lia agreed

They had to deal with more attacks on their way but not like before, they managed to handle it quickly between the two of them. When they finally reached their destination they were shocked at what they saw.

"What is this?!" Natsu asked

"What's going on here?" Happy asked

"Is that the Celestial Spirit King?!" Lia asked as she noticed the giant spirit

"A-Ah." Happy told her

The Celestial Spirit King was held by about 13 chains coming out of a giant magic sphere that was emitting the purple light.

"If the Celestial Spirit King is being held captive…" Happy said "…then this is its core."

"Remember what I told Lucy…this is the concentration of Eclipse magic…that's why I came in here…" She told them "She told us that the magic would have taken some place as its new core instead of the gate and it will be something in relation with the Celestial Spirit King, but I didn't expect this…"

"Hey, wake up, Beardie!" Natsu shouted just then the chains started pulling him into the core

"It's getting worse!" Happy said

"Beardie is bein' dragged down! But not for long!" Natsu yelled "Let's go!"

Lia and Natsu both headed for the chains but Lia froze when she sensed the magic coming directly from them

"Crushing Fang of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu casted as he hit one of the chains

"Natsu! Stop!" Lia yelled and he turned to her "The chains are the 13 Celestial spirits!"

"What?!" He wondered and it took only one sniff for him to confirm it "What the hell is this?!"

"Kvasir said we need to destroy the magic and not the core, destroying the core would just make the magic move again to something else." Lia told them but she wasn't sure how to go about this, she had never in her life destroyed this much magic.

"Do not interfere, humans." A voice echoed

"Loke?!" Natsu wondered and they noticed the voice coming from one of the chains

"It's all for the sake of the Celestial Spirit King." A second voice added

One by one different voices repeated the same thing.

"What should we do?!" Happy cried

"Oi, Lia! How do we get rid of it?" Natsu asked

"I am not sure…I could try my destroy spell…but against this much magic…" She told them

Natsu nodded "I am gonna try and wake him up…and you try your spell." She nodded and while Happy took Natsu to the Celestial Spirit King, Lia headed closer to the purple magic.

She spread her arms in front of her as a magic circle appeared and her magic gathered, "Magic Burst:…" The light in front of her magic circle gathered stronger "…Heaven's Punishment!" the beam released and it went directly for the sphere of magic, she kept going at her full strength and when her magic finally dwindled, she was breathing hard, but not even quarter of the sphere was gone. "no…"

She didn't have enough magic to cast this a lot, maybe one more time if she pushed it…so she did just that and as the beam released and hit half of the sphere was gone, but she found herself falling her magic not keeping her in the air, she was surprised when Happy picked her though before she could fall far.

"Where's Natsu?" She asked

"He jumped into it." He told her worriedly

"That idiot!" Lia said and they both saw as he stood up on the remaining part of the sphere. And started eating it.

"W-What are you doing?! You can't eat that stuff!" Happy yelled at him "It'll do more than give you an upset stomach!"

Natsu didn't care and kept going.

"Natsu! That's Eclipse Magic you're eating! It's dark magic! It will poison and kill you!" Lia yelled at him "You need to stop!" He still didn't stop.

He kept going for a while longer before he finally stopped breathing hard and fell straight into the magic.

"Natsu!" the two of them called

"Let go Happy!" Lia told the exceed as she gathered a bit of magic "I can fly now…" he nodded and as he let go she hovered as he picked up Natsu.

"That's totally reckless!" Happy yelled at the Dragon Slayer who laughed and wiped his mouth

"Eatin' that junk makes me feel stronger than ever!" Natsu said "Get back, Happy! I'm gonna blow that thing up!"

"You really are one of a kind, Natsu!" Lia told him shaking her head while smiling

"You got rid of half of it, now leave the rest to me!" Natsu told her grinning before he turned to the half sphere Lia retreated to give him any space he needed "Dragon Slayer's Secret Art! Planetary Flames! Exploding Flame Edge!" The moment the attack hit the remaining half exploded.

Natsu and Happy were thrown back, but Lia flew directly at thme, and led all of three of them to closest nonmoving object which happened to be the Celestial Spirit King.

The Eclipse beast ended up disappearing in a glow of light, and three Fairy Tail mages were buried under the remains of it. They were rescued moments after by Erza and Gajeel.

"Erza!" Natsu grinned at her

"Thank you." Lia told Gajeel, grinning herself.

"You did great!" Erza told them as Erza pulled Natsu more he ended up dragging the Celestial Spirit King from the wreckage. There was an explosion of light and they found themselves suddenly on a platform, the world around them was glowing and colored…the Celestial Spirit Realm was back to normal.

"Look, Natsu! The Celestial Spirit World went back to normal!" Happy said

All of them were injured but otherwise relived the thing was over and done with.

"Where's everyone who was turned into constellations?" Natsu asked looking around

"Right here!" Juvia shouted as they running towards them, Juvia threw herself at Gray immediately "Gray, let's become a constellation together next time!"

"Why would I want to do that?" He asked her but for once he hadn't pushed her back and smiled; glade she okay.

"So what happened with the Celestial Spirits?" Carla asked

"That's right. Where are Loke and the others?" Natsu asked

"Right, over there." Lia told them smiling as she pointed at the gate behind them where the said spirits came walking towards them.

Lucy covered her mouth, happy to see them.

"Pisces! Libra!" Yukino called

"Everyone! You've changed back to normal!" Lucy said before running at Virgo and hugging her while crying.

"I don't know why you're crying…" Virgo told her "Did something happen, Princess?"

The celestial spirits didn't remember anything about their time under eclipse.

"Old…Friends…" a voice came from above they turned and it was the Celestial Spirit King

"The Celestial Spirit King! Maybe you don't remember anything either?" Lucy asked him

"I sense…that I had a long, dark evil dream, but that is all." He told them "And now, it is gone."

"So you don't remember!" Happy said

"However, old friends, this dark dream that came from afar…was like a gust of pale, nostalgic wind…blowing through my inner world." He told them, making Lia frown, Kvasir had mentioned this happened before but not to this extent and if what the king said at being nostalgic… "I do not know why…but for some reason, these words come to mind. 'Thank you for everything.'."

At that moment Hisui approached him "Celestial Spirit King!" She called "My name is Hisui E. Fiore. As the daughter of the king of Fiore…No, as a Celestial Spirit Wizard, I deeply apologize to you." She looked down "It's all…It's all my…"

"You did what you did to save my old friends' world from an awful predicament. Why must you feel regret for that?" He told her as tears sprang into her eyes "Perhaps we were turned into prisoners because of our own weakness. Let us look to the stars for guidance in everything." He grinned at the end making her nod with a smile "Now, you should go, old friends." As he said that the spirits started approaching Lucy and Yukino giving their keys back.

Elfman was helping support Lia who still needed to recover more magic to even stand, but everyone didn't care about their injuries or exhaustion they just looked at Lucy who was crying happily as they smiled.

* * *

 **Hope you Like the chapter! :D If you did or didn't I would like to hear what you think in a pm or review! :D**


	45. The Hidden Library

Xenos was starting to wonder how much bad luck could Fairy Tail possibly have? What kind of people in less than two weeks had to deal with Dragons and then saving another realm entirely? They had to save the world twice in two weeks! Why couldn't they be just like normal humans and when the see trouble they high tail the other way?

Granted, the world would have ended, but why did _they_ have to be the ones to save it?

He pulled his hood up and quickly disappeared into one of his mirrors hidden in the shadows of one of the alleys, giving him a perfect view of his target and the pain in the neck, Lia Sephiran.

He understood perfectly why they couldn't just take her away right now, it was too much of a risk since they weren't sure if the ritual would work this time around, and he knew Fairy Tail wouldn't fall to another trick of she could be dead. Not that it worked as they wanted the first time around.

His eyes moved to one of the people Lia was walking with. Laxus Dreyar. He had found the fake bloodied messenger bag they had left back then when they took her, hell, Envy had gone as far as get a Chimera just so they made it seem like she was gone. But the Lightning Dragon Slayer had found the said bag and Chimera and disposed of the two, and as far as they knew never said a word about them, for whatever reason.

"Well you look like hell~" A voice sang from beside his mirror just as the group of Fairy Tail mages passed, he stepped out.

"You would too if you had to sit around waiting to see if she died this time or not." He snapped, on the foggy mountain he hadn't been able to follow the Fairy Tail mages to wherever they gone and had to settle to going back to Magnolia in hope of some news reaching the guild about their members…it took two entire days for them to be back!

Envy snorted "You're the one that like watching her so much." He couldn't see her eyes hidden by the shadow of the hood – like she always made sure it was – but her sneer as she stared at the back of the woman he did catch. "I hope we figure out the last part quickly I am getting tired of the baby sitting part." She turned to him "On other news, Jellal is on our tail and so is the Fairy make-shift brother of hers. They're working together now."

He pinched his nose. "What did master say about that?"

"Let them be." She replied crossing her arms

Their master had the weirdest orders…he wasn't sure if it was confidence or what that drove him but…they would follow him no matter what.

"Then do just that…" He said before turning away "…now if you don't mind I am going back, your turn to watch."

She grumbled but he didn't hear what she said and just walked away, hoping for once that any world saving or dangerous jobs wouldn't come on his watch again and for once it would be on Envy's watch.

* * *

"It's not a date!" Lia said for Mavis knows the what time, it was two days after they had gone back from the Celestial Spirit Realm, to their surprise the time there had been the equivalent of two days here, by the time they were back all the weird weather had stopped and everything was back to normal, and waiting for them was a worried guild that had done their best yesterday to celebrate the passing of another danger by throwing a party.

This morning though, the thunder tribe had showed up at her door, job flyer in hand which had led to her refusing them since she was meeting someone and why she had reached the current situation as she walked with them to the guild.

"Then who are you meeting?" Evergreen asked with a triumphant smirk

"Someone." Lia replied vaguely not the least bit phased. "Shouldn't you guys be _leaving_?"

"Not till I know who's your date with!" Evergreen replied causing Lia to throw her arms into the air exasperated "It's not a date!"

Evergreen wasn't the only one who was curious to who Lia was meeting, but she was the only one vocal about it.

As soon as they reached the guild, Lia stomped away from the woman to the bar but Evergreen ever persistent followed. "Mira, do you know who Lia is going on a date with?"

Lia turned to stare at her in horror, Mira was one of the last people you wanted to know that you might be going on a date, she would grill you till you gave in and handed all the information, the problem was Lia really wasn't going on a date but she couldn't tell them who she was really meeting.

Mira blinked before smiling "Oh, I know about her date." She replied her eyes shining as Lia turned the look of horror on the She-Demon "I overheard the two of you talking yesterday."

Evergreen smirked "It's someone in the guild?! That narrows it down plenty!" she stole a look at Laxus though _poor soul is gonna be dead pretty soon._

Lia groaned as she hit her head on the bar "I hate you, Mira!"

Mira giggled, she never after all said it was a romantic date, but a little jealousy never harmed anyone.

Freed and Bickslow were desperately trying to occupy Laxus but Mira's comment had definitely not helped the situation.

"Lia." Mira called making her look up at her "You're gonna be late."

Lia blinked and turned to look at the guild noticing the person she was meeting was gone, and one look at the clock told her that the time she had made for a breakfast in the guild as gone dealing with the Thunder tribe.

She cursed stood up and disappeared before any of the others could blink. "Mira, do you happ–" Evergreen started but was interrupted by the white haired mage "Kahwa Café"

* * *

Evergreen had dragged them to the said café where they took refuge in one of the alleys that gave them perfect view of the café and using Freed's runes to keep them hidden. Lia was all alone so far, she had taken a seat on one of the outdoors tables and after ordering a coffee she had pulled a book and sat waiting.

"Who do you think it is though?" Evergreen asked as they waited. "I don't think I saw her give any of the guys in the guild that much interest."

"Lia is discrete about a lot of her feelings." Freed noted

"And she spent three months here while most of us were away." Bickslow stated making them turn to him

"One of the guys that stayed back then?!" Evergreen wondered, it would make sense that was the only chance anything could have happened that they wouldn't know about, since they have been with her most of the time since the GMG. "Who stayed during the three months."

"Macao and Wakaba" Freed stated "But I doubt it's them."

"Alzack is married so not him either." Evergreen said thoughtfully

"Grey!" Bickslow said suddenly making the other two turn to him as Laxus eyes narrowed at Lia.

"He wasn't here though." Evergreen said as he shook his head

"No, Grey is talking to her!" He told them pointing at the café.

Grey had showed up at the Café and was talking with Lia, the two of them standing. Lia was shaking her head and pointed at her book resting on the table. They exchanged a few more words before he turned and left her with a wave.

"So, not Grey." Bickslow said "What were they talking about though?"

They turned to their only chance of eavesdropping on her, Laxus didn't even turn to them as he felt their gaze and just rolled his eyes. "She told him she needed some study time away from the guild."

"So, who else was in the guild during the three months?" Freed wondered

"Jet and Droy. Oh and Nab" Evergreen supplied before they shook their head "Definitely not them…"

"What about Max?" Bickslow suggested "We know she trained a lot with Venus and she and max seemed like close friends…"

"You think Venus set them up?" Evergreen wondered

"Speak of the devil…" Freed said and the two turned to the café, Max was the one talking to Lia now.

He looked a bit sheepish as he talked with her, rubbing the back of his head, Lia smirked at him though before she told him something.

"What are they…?" Evergreen wondered trailing off as she looked at Laxus.

"He wants to get a gift for Venus." He told her making them all surprised

"Wait so she wasn't lying about it not being a date?!"

"He left!" Bickslow pointed out and as they looked Lia was sitting at the table by her lonesome again.

"So she's not meeting Max…" Evergreen said they were now back to square one before any of them could say anything else though, two people came running towards Lia, Venus and Wendy.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Wendy apologized to the particle mage

"It's no problem" Lia looked at the two shocked "Um…Wendy, I thought you're the one that didn't want others knowing about this." She told her

"Carla was being huffy, so I helped Wendy get away from her and she told me where she was going." Venus explained grinning "I know she wanted to hide it so it won't go back to Carla, but I won't say a word but I want part of this!"

Wendy had taken a seat and Venus had pulled a chair too "I don't know how helpful it would be to you though…" Lia said

"Not one bit in practice." Venus replied immediately "but Music magic has something that's called soul enchantment…pretty much inspire courage…spread calmness that sort of stuff…but I have no idea how to do them. So, I thought if I could get some kinda of idea if I see how you guys do your enchantment."

"I have no objection, Wendy?"

"I don't mind, I'm just really grateful you're willing to help me." The little girl said making Lia grin

"It's nothing Wendy…here." Lia reequipped the translated book she had been hoping to give to her for a while now. "Enchantment magic for me is a bit different but this book concerns itself with your kind of enchantment…It gave me a few ideas I could try myself, but the most I could do for you is explain any concepts that you don't understand since my magic is a bit different."

"Thank you, it's more than I can ask for…" Wendy said smiling

"I really think you should talk to one of the other Dragon Slayers though; so they can help you with Dragon Slaying magic" Lia told her "I wouldn't recommend Natsu though…his training methods are a bit…dangerous." Making the two girls giggle, Lia's eyes narrowed though, she wondered how she had missed that small bit of magic "I will be right back…just get started on reading this." and she disappeared.

Evergreen, Bickslow, Freed turned to face the person who had coughed behind to grab their attention, Laxus just sighed.

Lia raised an eyebrow in question. "What do you think you're doing?"

"How did you find us? I though Freed's runes kept us hidden from sensing and all." Bickslow asked

"I sensed the runes themselves." She replied and turned to Laxus "Since you're here, and I know you probably heard what we were talking about" He heard and had told the other three what was going on, they had been about ready to leave before Lia caught them. "How about it?"

"You want me to help train her?" Laxus questioned, he had barely talked to the little Dragon Slayer since Tenrou where she introduced herself to him, that was probably the longest conversation he had had with her. Sure he helped her during the dragon's attack but they had barely had a conversation then.

Lia sighed "Look, we keep getting dragged into all sorts of trouble, her team gets dragged into them even more, I just don't want her to get hurt…but there so much I could when it comes to Dragon Slaying Magic. I can help her with enchantment, I could recruit Eiran when he comes back to help her with hand to hand combat but Dragon Slaying Magic isn't something that theory could help with and that's the only thing I can offer to it. At least think about it?"

"I will think about it." He told her nodding.

She turned to the other three "Tell no one about this!" she warned and they nodded "Didn't you have a job to get to? Better I don't sense you here or _Freed's runes_." she told them before disappearing.

Wendy jumped a bit and so did a few from the other café patrons, not used to someone appearing out of the blue.

"How far are you in?" Lia asked

"Just the second page…" Wendy said quietly

"That's okay, keep the book to study on your own time." Lia told her and pulled a notebook and a pen "Let's review the basics before we move to the spells and what you know and what you don't." Lia had read the book cover to cover, if she wanted she could attempt enchantment magic but she was happy with her own magic's version so far, but it meant she really could help Wendy.

After they went over the basics and what Wendy knew they moved to Lia's and Venus's home to start actually working, Venus retreated into the back with her guitar as she tried to get some of theory to what she knew about her own magic's form of enchantment while Lia and Wendy started working on the young girl's enchantment.

Before they knew it, night came with an exhausted Wendy crashing on their couch. "You might have pushed her a little hard" Venus told Lia as the latter covered Wendy with a blanket.

Lia shrugged "Considering the dangers we seem to find ourselves…and what her team finds themselves in, I don't think I pushed her hard enough."

"Speaking of trouble, Carla is probably losing about now." Venus noted

"I will go tell her, Wendy crashing here." Lia replied just as Venus yawned "You look like you'd drop any second."

"Good idea…" Venus told her and didn't bother to make it up stairs just crashed on the other couch, making Lia chuckle.

Lia put on her shoes and teleported from her living room to the front of Fairy Hills, it was mostly dark except for a window on the ground floor Lia knew was the buildings common room, and sure enough she could sense Carla in there, but she grimaced when she sensed someone else behind her and turned, ready to fight any moment.

"Relax! I am not here to take you…yet" Envy grinned at her and her mouth was only what Lia saw because of the woman's hood. "I am just watching, like we told you before!"

"If you're supposed to be hiding then you're not doing a good job at it." Lia replied dryly not relaxing one bit, why would she show herself if she weren't here to take her.

"You know; you gave Xenos quite a fright." Envy said tutting "Disappearing for two days like that. So, I thought I would remind you…" Her voice which had bordering on playful before turned threatening with a snarl "…That we're still watching, you give us more trouble and we will take you right away, I might even kill one or two or three of your friends" She smirked "That cute little Dragon Slayer perhaps or maybe even that musician or the little bookworm in your guild; they look like one move might snap them in half." She giggled

Lia was glaring at the woman her body glowing with magic threateningly "You touch them and _I_ will make sure you're the one that ends up snapped in half." The threat seemed to entertain Envy as she giggled

"We'll see about that won't we? Stay safe…for now." Envy told her before disappearing

Lia was tense for a moment more before the glow her magic gave her faded and she relaxed a bit. She hated them, all of that guild. She turned to look at the light coming from the Fairy Hills building guiltily, she had been thinking about this for a while now…her friends…her _family_ , they were putting themselves in danger by just associating with her.

 _Maybe she should just leave after all._ That thought made her sigh as she moved a hand through her hair before she shook her head.

She should focus on making sure Carla didn't have a heart attack from the missing Wendy for now. And she turned to go inside Fairy Hills.

* * *

"Mira!" Lia cried and ran for the bar the very next day, she couldn't sense Makarov anywhere and she needed to ask him about this. "Mira! Where's Gramps?!"

"Good morning to you too." Mira mused from behind the bar, making the orange head give her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Good morning." Lia corrected before she started explaining "I just found something this morning, _finally_ , and I need to asked Gramps about it."

After her run-in with Envy last night, she hadn't been able to sleep and had stayed almost all night reading and looking. She had missed Wendy and Venus leaving in the morning, focused on her work.

Mira frowned "You missed him, he left this morning to meet some of the other guild masters."

Lia froze before she frowned, just her luck when she finally found something for her to have to be forced to wait…then again…

She pulled the paper from her pockets, she had found it in one of the diaries, and looked at it, it showed a map with the east forest written clearly at the top, Lia could easily find the place marked on the map, she had wanted to ask Makarov if he knew what was _there_ , but she could just go check it out herself.

She turned ready to go "Hold it!" Mira called threateningly from behind her "I saw that piece of paper, you know what master said, it's too dangerous to leave town on your own."

Lia pouted as she turned to the white haired mage "Yeah, but I know Laxus is already on a job and you can't leave the bar…" Mira smiled

"Erza's around though."

It took all her control to not groan as she buried her head in her hands. Wherever Erza went, team Natsu followed…and so did trouble.

* * *

"What do you think we'll find there?" Lucy wondered as they walked through the east forest.

Lia had been right, as soon as they had talked to Erza, Natsu had questioned where they were heading when he saw them by the guild doors, and in his wake followed Happy, Lucy, Gray, Wendy and Carla. She just prayed to any god out there this simple trek through the forest didn't turn into a death fight.

"Fish!" Happy replied as he thought dreamily of his favourite food, Lucy just sighed.

They were being led by Lia who was following the map in her hand of the area as she compared it to the small piece of paper.

"Knowing Sophia, it might be full of hidden photos." Erza commented

"It could be her photo studio…she had to have developed those photos somewhere." Gray agreed

"It could be a fight ring, where she fought with some monsters trapped there to get stronger." Natsu grinned as he imagined the scene.

Lucy just face palmed.

"That doesn't seem quite realistic." Carla commented

Erza on the other hand was rolling the idea in her head "Natsu might be right."

"Mom, didn't have a fight ring to fight monsters…" Lia replied

"No normal person would." Lucy agreed nodding

"…that was destroyed when Laxus and Eiran went a little far during a training session when we were kids." Lia finished "From what I remember it was more of labyrinth then a ring."

Lucy buried her head in her hands, wondering why she still thought anyone in the guild was normal.

"So what do you think we'd find there, Lia?" Wendy asked

"Her hidden library or a hidden photo studio…there's the possibility of it being a weapon's workshop too." She replied as she finished her thought with her great grandfather who was known for making weapons.

"No monster ring then?" Lucy asked dryly

"I doubt it…" Lia said "But she could have made a new one after the last one was destroyed and never told us so no one ends up destroying it by accident."

"That makes sense." Gray agreed "If it is I reserve the right to the first fight."

"No way Ice princess!" Natsu started but before Gray could even reply they felt Erza's glare on them and shut up.

Lia stopped suddenly and they all followed "According to the map, this is the spot."

"Nothing's here." Happy said

"It's a hidden place, there's probably a way to open it around." Lucy commented

"Let's look for it then." Erza said and they each walked in a different direction checking everything, from trees to tree stumps to bushes and in Natsu's case the ground itself.

It was Wendy that ended up finding something as they gathered around a tree that had the Fairy Tail mark engraved into it's trunk.

"So what now?" Lucy wondered

Lia walked forward and touched the mark before pushing magic into it, she noticed immediately as her mark on her right hand started glowing.

The ground shook under them before a magic circle appeared on the ground under them, Gray had to move a bit to the left as the ground opened where he had been standing with a stair way leading further down.

Natsu grinned before he ran downstairs first "Let's go!" he called as Happy followed with an 'Aye, Sir!'

"Natsu!" Erza called as she followed

"Wait up, flame brain!" Gray said as he went after them

"They don't even know what's waiting down there!" Lucy grumbled

Lia shrugged "I doubt it's worse than anything we've faced so far." As she followed at a calmer pace. Lucy, Wendy and Carla followed after them reluctantly.

The stairs were long and went deep underground, they weren't sure how long they were heading down but it was after a few minutes before they finally reached the end of them.

They all stared wide eyed at the place. It was like someone had crafted the inside of a library here, the stone of side walls was converted into bookshelves with books on them, some books were stacked on the ground, there were two holes that gave way to other rooms.

There was a chandelier in the roof that apparently had a magic lacrima for the light.

"Looks like you were right, Lia." Erza noted

Lia's expression changed from awe to a blank face before she grabbed both Natsu's and Gray's shoulder, her blank face turned into too sweet a smile that made the two freeze as they turned to look at her "If you so much as harm a single paper in here…" they swallowed "…I think you remember what happened last time, right?"

They nodded vigorously, Happy had retreated to hide behind Lucy.

"What happened last time?" Lucy whispered to Happy who shuddered. He didn't get to answer though as a cough interrupted them.

The Fairy Tail wizards turned to the source of the sound, standing there was a tall man that looked in his forties, his orange long hair tied in a ponytail down his back, his green eyes staring at them in amusement.

"Hello" He greeted them as his eyes passed over them stopping briefly on Lia.

"Hey, old man!" Natsu greeted back grinning "Is this your place?"

Lia and Erza had their eyes narrowed at the man as the cogs in their heads turned.

"In a matter of speaking" He replied "It was mine some time ago, but now I am more of a guard, to protect it from intruders."

"We didn't mean to just go in..." Lucy started as she tried to explain "…we found this map, well Lia found the map, and we just wanted – " he waved her off to interrupt her

"Intruders are those that are not from Fairy Tail, and who don't have a particle mage with them _willingly_ " He explained

"Good thing we're all Fairy Tail then." Natsu said

"and Lia is the one who wanted to come, so…" Happy finished

Lia stared at him and the man focused on her before turning to look at the others "So what are your names?" He asked them

"I am Natsu! And This is Happy!"

"Aye!"

"Gray."

"And I am Lucy."

"Um…My name's Wendy."

"Carla."

Erza and Lia were quiet as two turned to each other before Erza turned first "Erza."

Lia sighed "Lia." His eyes lit up

"Figured as much." He muttered as he looked at her

"What's you name old man?" Natsu asked

"Altair. Altair Sephiran." He replied and Lia frowned, the others sans Erza were shocked and stared between Lia and the man

"That's not possible." She replied as she looked at him, ever since they saw him something just didn't feel right, it was like they were staring at a ghost and not at the same time, he had magic obviously, even Erza felt it but one of the interesting facts they noticed was the guys didn't have a shadow for one, the second Lia noticed was his magic was connected to a large area of the cave including the lacrima giving them light currently, and add that the name he just gave them belonged to a person who was supposed to be dead. "Altair Sephiran is dead."

The man was sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck "I know, though I am not sure how long ago that was, haven't had a visitor in a while so I am not sure what date is it."

"You're saying you're a dead person?" Gray asked for confirmation

"Yeah."

"A ghost?" Lucy asked as she looked at him spooked

"Wait what? No!" He replied causing a relief sigh to escape Lucy and Wendy "I am a…memory of sorts…or just a stand in." He shrugged "There's no word for it, I am Altair, but not him as a soul or in the flesh…I am his personality, memories, thoughts and such gathered in a copy."

"That would take substantial magic." Erza noted with a frown

"Not if you have a cheat." He told her winking before coughing "So for convenience I am Altair Sephiran, one of Fairy Tail's founders, first mage in Sephiran family, and I guess Lia's great Grandfather, god that makes me sound old."

"Do all the founders have a post death cheat?" Lucy muttered

"I wonder about that, the first master sensed completely different then…this." Lia replied "So, what is this place?"

This caused Altair to frown "So you really aren't here with permission?"

They blinked at him "Whose permission are we supposed to have?" Gray asked

"The guild master, of course. This place is a guild secret, usually only those who made to S rank in the guild know about it. It sorta of became a tradition." He muttered the last part

They turned to look at Erza who was frowning and crossed her arms "I am an S rank mage and I don't know what this place is."

"I did say usually…the other condition, that there has to be an S rank particle mage." He told them and they froze.

"That would make Laxus the last one to know about this place." Lia said as she stared at the ground. So that's why her mother never told her, she never got the chance.

Altair smiled "yeah I remember that kid, he had a lot of potential back then. Just not the personality."

"umm…I don't understand why a library would need two S rank mages?" Wendy asked quietly

"It's not so much the library as what's hidden in it." Altair replied causing them to focus on him

"Hidden in it?" Carla wondered

He nodded "This is why I am here and why I guard this place." They stared at him "This place holds a demon after all."

"This place holds a demon?" Lia asked frowning she couldn't sense any sort of demon here.

Natsu grinned "That's awesome! So it's a demon ring! I want to fight it first!" Erza hit him on the head

"Why would the guild hide a demon?" Gray asked, his hand clenching and unclenching.

"I apologize, but I can't tell you anymore." Altair told them turning serious "this is a secret for a reason, only the really strong could handle the challenge the secret provides."

"Well Erza is S rank." Lucy noted

"Indeed, but you need a strong enough particle mage to take down the barriers holding the demon in and then put them up when the S rank mage challenges the demon."

"You said that S rank mages know about it…and that they get to challenge it, right?" Lia asked confused as Altair nodded "Would that mean that both Gildarts and Laxus failed to beat it?"

That caused all of her companions to freeze, as Altair nodded "It takes more than strength to subdue a demon, and this one is hard to please."

"What does pleasing it have to do with anything?" Gray scoffed

"Why won't they team up to take it down?" Wendy wondered at the same time

Altair smiled and didn't answer either.

"Can we see the barriers?" Lia asked "I may not be an S rank mage, but maybe I can handle the barriers."

"That's quite the risk though, what holding the barriers up is what is keeping me here, if anything goes wrong." Altair noted

"Yeah but you can't stop us anyway if we decide to keep going, can you?" Lia countered

Altair looked at her "You would go as far as break guild rules, just to defeat a demon?"

"No, but I would go so far to find out what is really hidden here." She replied ignoring the looks the rest of her guild mates gave her, at this point she was already thinking about leaving the guild it didn't matter if she broke the rules as long as she found out what her mother was hiding.

Altair stared at her with an unreadable expression "You've lost hope haven't you?" That caused her to freeze. "You don't have any chance facing the demon, he would eat you alive, soul and all."

Lia opened her mouth to reply, but Erza beat her to it "Then I want to challenge it." She declared "Lia is strong enough to deal with the barriers."

"Not fair, I wanted to fi-" Natsu stared but stopped at Erza's glare, as he broke into sweat.

"Well it's like she said, I don't have any special powers to stop you, but at the very least I can make sure you don't kill yourself deactivating the barriers, or me for that matter." He turned and started walking "Let's go then."

The place wasn't just a library. That was one of Lia's thoughts as they followed Altair deeper into the place, they had passed what looked like an office room, another room seemed to have a not working furnace and an anvil, before they eventually another staircase that led even deeper underground.

"How far underground is this place?" Lucy asked

"Very deep, I built this place as a working place to make my weapons and for research purposes then extended this part at some point for the very purpose of keeping the demon inside." Altair replied.

"so about that demon…" Gray started

"I won't answer anything, knowing beforehand would defeat the purpose of the entire thing" He said "Just so you know, if Erza fails none of you are going to be allowed to fight it, if you become S rank. It's part of why even if they change and grow, the S rank mages of the guild are given only once chance for this."

This was confusing them even more, Natsu didn't seem to be on the page as everyone though. "Not fair! I want to fight it!"

They reached the end of the stairs to find two hallways "Sorry, but knowing would defeat the purpose, if you want a chance to fight it head back upstairs while we finish this." Altair told Natsu, he was staring at them seriously "Now, Erza, take the right path and wait at the end of it while we deal with the barrier in the other room" Erza nodded

Lia frowned "You don't have to do this Erza" She told the red head who shook her head

"It seems this was something I was supposed to do when I became S rank. It is tradition, right?" Erza said as she looked at Altair who nodded "I will see you after it's finished."

She started walking down the hallway "Good Luck, Erza!" Lucy called

"Take it down!" Natsu shouted "Aye!" Happy said

"Will she be okay?" Wendy asked

"Indeed it seems if all the S rank in the guild couldn't beat this demon…" Carla started

"Not just the S rank…" Lia frowned had remained "if it's still here, then it means even Gramps couldn't beat it…"

"That's…not good." Gray stated

"He." Altair corrected as they all turned to the ghost-like blinking "The demon is a he not an it. Let's go." He led them down the other hallway.

"Am I the only one that gets the idea that there is more to defeating this demon then just beating it?" Lucy whispered to them behind Altair's back.

"You're not the only one" Lia agreed

"He said it's hard to please earlier, I think that means something." Gray noted

"Does it matter, Erza took down a hundred demons during the games not like one would make that much difference." Natsu grinned

"Just…Wendy be ready for a worst case, please." Lia told the younger Dragon slayer who nodded

They stopped thought when they ended up at another group of stairs this one leading up though.

Lucy groaned "How many stairs does this place have?"

They followed despite the complains, it took them a few minutes before they reached the top, which was a circular balcony at the top of a very large room, the balcony had two cross roads that connected the different sides and met at the middle.

What attracted their attention thought was the glowing crystal orb floating at that meeting point.

Under them was a very large circular room, surrounded but what looked like a flickering sphere with a light silver glow to it – the barrier – and in the middle of the room was something too small for them to make from this far.

Altair turned to them "You can spread around to watch the fight should happen under us, while Lia and I will deal with the barrier."

"Awesome!" Natsu said and went running to get a good spot.

"Wait, Natsu!" Lucy called as she ran after him, along with Happy.

"You going to be okay?" Gray asked Lia, who nodded grinning "No worries, just go get a spot and see Erza kick some demon butt."

Gray nodded and walked away with Wendy and Carla following while Lia followed Altair as he led her to the orb.

"So,…" Altair started awkwardly "…How old are you?" Lia blinked at him

"What?" She asked confused

"I got a chance to know Sophia, and until today I hadn't met you, you're still my family" He chattered "And this have been a bit awkward, so…." He was rubbing the back of his head nervously "I am more used to someone doing the introductions, Brenainn introduced me to Sophia, and Sophia introduced you but you were just a few months, so I was curious about your age after all those years…"

"Twenty-one but I am turning Twenty-two in less then two months" She answered cutting his chatter and smiling a bit. "I guess it would be great to have a blood family member after all those years." He perked up at her. They stopped walking when they reached the orb.

"This is it. It's a magic artifact, that can store magic energy and keep reusing it to power something. I adjusted it a bit though with particle magic, to keep my projection around, light the place and to keep the barrier up." Lia nodded in understanding, and approached the orb. "About the needed magic energy and which is which you will need to recognize which is powering the barrier and which is powering…well, me and everything else, or you'll end up getting rid of me, they can be recognized by-"

"I already can recognize it." She told him closing her eyes as she focused on the sensing, "they are very distinct."

Altair stared at her, before smiling, she probably didn't realize that not most people would say it was easy to separate two almost similar magic energies.

"You just need to focus on the one powering the barrier and pull it back to lift the barrier." He told her and she nodded.

The shift was obvious as the silver glow that surrounded the room under them lifted upward. And they saw as Erza walked inside.

Altair nodded "Put the barrier back again." And like that the barrier fell down again surrounding the room in the silver sphere and just as it finished Lia fell to her knees breathing hard. "Yeah it takes that much magic…"

"Should have figured" Lia said groaning, she used the railing for support "So what happens now?" She looked down as Erza walked to the middle of the room

"We watch" He told her as he stood beside her staring down with a strange glint in his eyes "And she fights."

"You didn't say the demon was trapped in…" Lia narrowed her eyes trying to make out what it was the demonic energy was coming off "Is that a sword?"

"It is and he isn't trapped per say." Altair told her "He's just connected."

She stared at him weirdly, she wasn't sure what he meant but it probably played into whatever the big secret he was keeping was. She turned to look at Erza who just reached the middle of the room where the sword was. She just hopped Erza didn't get hurt in this.

Under them Erza stopped as she stared at the double edged sword that was embed into the ground. The closer she had walked to it, the more she noticed the energy coming of it, and now as she stood right in front of it, it started glowing purple.

"So another person comes?" A voice echoed loud enough to reach them standing at the top "I had almost thought that guild had died out."

The voice was old and rasp. "That's not the same particle mage." The voice noted "So that cold brat finally died." He chuckled causing Erza to frown as her eyes were shadowed by her bangs and almost all the other Fairy Tail members were seething as well. "How long has it been? Feels like it has been years…OI! ALTAIR!" HE started shouting suddenly causing everyone to cover their ears. "HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?!"

"I almost forgot how loud he could be." Altair said chuckling weakly

The voice tusked "Oi, you red brat." He called "You here to challenge me, right?"

"I am" Erza replied glaring at the sword, a glare that would have people running but he only chuckled.

"I will say I like that look in your eyes, but…" The sword glowed harder almost blinding them all before it faded and they stared at what stood in front of Erza now. The demon was huge, with its body covered in black armor covering the chest area, two gauntlets where his arm is supposed to be and a helmet on the head but what appeared of its body was black and fog-like with no legs as he floated over the ground with the fog spreading through the armor in long waves, and same fog connecting the gauntlets to the rest of the body and through the helmet you could see two red eyes "…Looks isn't all there is to it, brat!"

* * *

 **It's this story's second Anniversary! This update is to celebrate just that! I wanted to include the fight scene but didn't manage to finish writing it in time, so this will be divided into a two chapter mini arc. I hope everyone like's it and sorry for the lack of updates but things have been hectic. :D**


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